Creative artisans

There are so many creative New Zealanders running successful small businesses. Many are highly qualified but choose to work from home and sell locally so that they can more easily juggle the responsibilities of family life at the same time. 

Justine is a mother of two, an accountant and now an expert in using essential oils. Her company Be True produces natural soy candles, brilliant face oil and baby oil all handmade with the highest quality natural ingredients. The soy wax is melted and then cooled to an exact temperature before the mixture of essential oils is added, and then again, another exact temperature has to be reached before the wax is poured into the moulds - with a very steady hand.

The result is a gently perfumed, long lasting and environmentally friendly candles.

Many of our gifts are made by clever craftsmen and women. Often they have fallen into their product because they wanted products which had the best, least damaging effect. Many of them rival the expensive internationally-marketed top-of-the-range products and by comparison are far better value. A few are featured this month

One last piece of news from last month's blog – Happy Feet is still at Wellington Zoo, recovering well after a lot of operations to remove all the junk in his stomach. It is hoped he will be returned to the Antarctic waters where these Emperor Penguins live by boat once the weather is suitable for the boats to get there.

Jo Seagar speed cooking

Some people missed this link. Here it is now. The fun of cooking

I am sure there are a few who enjoy watching the expert television cooks - Annabel Langbein, Nigella, Jo Seagar, Jaime Oliver etc. Even if  "mmmmm, it's perfect" is a bit tiresome when you know it probably won't be when you cook it.

Jo Seagar, who latest book is "It's Easier Than You Think", has a great sense of humour. Not everything goes perfectly....have a look

We now have T shirts on Kiwigiftsonline

Even Grannies and Aunts can give T shirts. Especially when Kiwigiftsonline will swap them for a different size if they are the wrong size.

T shirts - often those sold in New Zealand as 'New Zealand T Shirts' are made in China, Indonesian, Thailand, Madagascar and goodness knows where. Ours are made in New Zealand.

I sourcing our T shirts, I learnt a lot. Surely even a T shirts factory must, in some small way, help the New Zealand economy and employment better than using an overseas factory. But there is quite a lot more to it all. The few companies in New Zealand making T shirts are Survivors, and they are survivors because they make really good quality products and use the best material.

100% cotton from sustainable sources (like the one above), kids' T shirts in merino - soft thin and magnificent to wear. Or the best kept secret for winter warmth - thermadry. We are anticipating that Auntie may be buying for herself, not just her relations. More T shirts will be coming online in the next few months.

Keep looking
Dione
Kiwigiftsonline.co.nz

Is the Royal Wedding killing bees in New Zealand?

NZ Herald reported yesterday that Kate Middleton may be using the latest in beauty therapy, a Bee Venom Mask. Touted as an alternative to botox, the cream has supposedly been used by Camilla, and celebrities such as Dannii Minogue and Michelle Pfeiffer. The beauty therapist whose cream they use sources the bee venom from organic hives in New Zealand. To collect the venom, a pane of glass is placed alongside the hive and an electrical curent encourages the bees to sting the glass. The venom is then diluted to just 1 per cent of the cream, but the recipient still feels a tingling, stinging sensation which stimulates the production of collagen and elastin.

But wait! Don't bees die after they sting? This is well known.

It's OK. Relax. Nowadays the bees who contribute their venom by stinging the pane of glass do not die. In fact it is important that they don't as it can affect the quality of the venom. They only die if they lose their 'stinger' which is what happens when they sting, say, a person. But this doesn't happen when they sting the glass.

So the royal guests, if not Kate herself, can rest assured the cream is OK to use. We don't list it on Kiwigiftsonline, but maybe we should. A 50ml jar evidently costs over $100.

Enjoy the Royal Wedding.

Dione

Up and away

Balloons over Waikato is a festival which takes place each year. This year it was at the beginning of April. Each morning the 31 balloons entered are inflated at Innes Common, Hamilton soon after dawn. Fantastic sight.

The first hot air balloon which carried passengers was launched in Septemebr 1783. The passengers were a duck, a sheep and a rooster. Within two month the first manned untethered balloon ride was made. The heat was generated by a fire of straw, kindling and rotton meat: although the balloon finally caught on fire the pilot had achieved his aim. Balloons were used in warfare from 1874 to 1945 as trasnfport, surveying and communication. Their biggest advantage was that they made no noise.

The altitude record for a hot air balloon is 65,000 feet set by Per Lindstrand in 1988. He was also the first to fly the Pacific when he flew with Richard Branson from Japan to Canada in 1991, at times reaching speeds of 245mph.

"There's something in a flying horse,
There's something in a huge balloon" - Williams Wordsworth in 'Peter Bell'

We will work on the flying horse another time.

Meanwhile Easter if not far away. Sending Easter Eggs by mail in dodgy as they can so easily break. But these Queen Anne Easter Eggs are less fragile. They are filled with dense delicious marshmallow and a big enough for the hungriest appetite.

Enjoy Easter.

Dione
Kiwigiftsonline

Christmas is coming

Gifts, entertaining, family, friends, a bit of a holiday. It is time for fun.



But first there is the organisation. Gifts? The last of our new Christmas stock is on the website including some of the really popular and topical food books. Annabel Langbein 'The Free Range Cookbook', Jo Seagar's latest book 'It's Easier Than You Think', Al Brown's award winning 'Go Fish' and even Alison and Simon Holst's classic for parents of young children 'Baby Food and Beyond'. Does this solve some gift problems for you?



Postage within New Zealand is free, so you can order up, they come individually wrapped ready to give away on the day.



"Do give books - religious or otherwise - for Christmas. They are never fattening, seldom sinful, and permanently personal" - Leonore Hershey

The best skin cleanser

There was a review of skin cleansers in NZ Herald yesterday. This skin cleanser is just as good, and most think its better as it has won an award. It is also half the price of most of those reviewed. It is hard to get sometimes, but we have it in stock - and postage within New Zealand is free.

New products added

Lots of new products on the website recently.

The New Zealand luxurious olive range of Tebe skincare is very popular luxurious skincare. It is made just south of Auckland on the olive plantation itself. We have included the Tebe moisturising shower gel, the flowing soap handwash and a really great gift for travellers, the Tebe Boarding pack. This has shower gel, moisturising milk, shampoo, conditioner and soap all within the hand luggage limit.

Now my mother-in-law, Les, was the first person I knew who raved on about Queen Anne chocolates. Very popular in the 1950s and 1960s - but then they stopped making them. They were made by Ernest Adams and now the granddaughter of Earnest Adams is making them again. They are made to the original recipes - and are just as good as Les promised. Read the story.

Last, but not lease, is the Topp Twins - well actually their new CD. In New Zealand we know them as those crazy tinws on the telly, but in fact they are world renowned country singers and their latest CD is tipped to be NZ Album of the Year. Entertaining music - Honky Tonk Angels.

Meanwhile the All Whites covered themselves in glory at the FIFA World Cup finals - they didnt make it to the knockouts but didnt lose a game.

The New Zealand Polo team has assembled in England and training up to play England for the Coronation Cup at the end of the month.

And for those in New Zealand, be thankful that the weather gurus say it is going to remain a mild winter.

"One kind word can warm three winter months" - Japanese proverb

Dione
http://kiwigiftsonline.co.nz/