Christmas Tree Competition 2016 - The Winners

We have had a massive response to our competition this year and we loved looking through your entries, some tasteful, some inventive but all bauble brilliant!  The competition was so tough we have decided to award not one but 3 prizes this year.

Always a sucker for a bit of nostalgia we love this tree from Helen Andreou, with 15 years of our decorations embellishing every branch! Thanks so much for sending in your picture, please call in to receive a £25 voucher!

We thought Jodie Fernandez packed such a lot onto a small tree. We loved hearing about the children's favourite baubles too! Such fun, thanks for sending in your pictures we'd like to award you a runner up prize, please call in to collect your £25 voucher

.....and the £50 prize for overall winner goes to Sheila Dobey for this stunning tree.  We loved the traditional theme the shape and impressive size of the tree but mostly the lovely attention to detail, decorating with so many decorations.  It looks beautiful.  Thanks so much for sending in your picture.  Please call in to collect your £50 Gift Voucher.

Have a wonderful Christmas

Ian and Kathryn 

and the whole Map Gift Shop Team

Damn Fine Ideas for Dapper Chaps!

What's Great for your Best Mate?

What's best for my Bestie?

What to buy the kid who has Everything?

What do I buy for my Gadget Guy?

For the Gadget Guy in your life, who is also up for a bit of fun - these are the top ideas for you.  The Selfie Clip is essentially a wide angle lens that clips over the camera on any phone and allows you to take a wider shot to include more people.  The Smart Phone Microscope is a powerful 30x zoom, enabling you to capture images with your camera phone in fantastically minute detail.  Is your Gagdet Guy also a Star Wars fan?  This fun heat changing Light Saber Mug will definitely make him smile.  Finally our top selling gift this season, Virtual Reality Glasses - Simply insert your smartphone into the secure visor, then let the glasses transform your movies and photos into a boldly impressive, fully immersive 3D environment.

Buyer's Pick - Ian Morris

Renowned locally for his cheeky wit and most excellent advice when it comes to buying gifts...here are Ian's chosen 4 products, guaranteed to raise a smile and entertain this Christmas.

Transform your empties into lamps with this rechargeable light. Shaped like a cork with a super bright LED that recharges via USB.  You can make interesting lights with vintage drinks bottles or create a cosy, improvised Christmas table feature. 

Ian doesn't need a  drinking buddy, even one who looks great in a pair of chaps! But you can hang a hunky cowboy on the side of your glass to mark your drink and avoid mix ups at your Christmas Party or hen parties, girls’ nights, picnics in fact anytime the drinks are flowing.

I really love this brand new candle range from voluspa. The candles are beautifully crafted and fragranced. but what makes them really special to me is the packaging.  It's a really clever ceramic jar with a hinged lid.  It's printed with such a beautiful image too which reminds me of some of the early work I did in Printed Textiles.  Any discerning candle lover would be delighted, I'm sure to receive this gift.

Finally Mr Morris is Gadget man himself and can spot a good gadget when he sees one!  These VR Glasses have been a best seller this season - Simply insert your smartphone into the secure visor, then let the glasses transform your movies and photos into a boldly impressive, fully immersive 3D environment. The Virtual Reality Glasses are compatible with most types of smartphone, and work by downloading the Discovery VR app and inserting your phone into the glasses. With impressive 360 degree image panning, this is a unique virtual reality experience like no other, right in your own home. A great gift for anyone who loves gadgets and discovering new experiences, this in an innovative product to astound the senses and provide a mind blowing glimpse of the future, right here and now in the present.

Maybe it's because you're Londoners

I have enough Jewellery......

Christmas Tree Competition 2016 - £50 Voucher up for grabs

Now we have passed the first Sunday of Advent, it's a green light to all those Christmas-aholics who have been on the starting blocks since Bonfire Night - what are you waiting for?Let's decorate the tree!

Our very own Vincenza (christmas-prima-fanatic) is yet to don her first Christmas jumper of the season - but her tree is already up!

We are running our Christmas Tree Competition again this year and there's a £50 Voucher up for grabs! We loved looking at all the pictures of your amazing creations last year!  Some traditional, some very contemporary but all unique!

We gave first Prize to @misscattykins last year - we especially loved that the baubles were collected over many years, each special and hopefully with special memories attached.  I know that is exactly how I feel each year when decorating my own tree, as the kids ooh and ahh as every bauble is unwrapped!  

We can't wait to see what you all get up this year, please send in your pictures, we will announce the winner on Friday 23rd December 

email: map@mapgiftshop.com
Twitter: @mapgiftshop
Facebook: Facebook.com/MapGiftShop

Best Selling Candles

Everyone loves a candle and as the nights are about to get very cold indeed.  What better way to enjoy an evening indoors!

Candles - you simply can't go wrong giving a beautiful candle and this year we have a selection that will suit all budgets and tastes.

Top of the range are these luxury stunning candles from Voluspa, Crisp Champagne Candle and Gardenia - The Ceramic Pillar design comes with a clever ceramic vented snap close lid. This allows the scent to disperse even when the candle is not lit.  £39.50

Prosecco ho ho yes please.  This gorgeous candle was created using the tasting notes from a famous wine maker - sparkling white grapes with hints of grapefruit, rose and subtle fruits.
Poured by hand into a glass container re-purposed from a wine bottle, the rim polished by flame to give a perfect finish and finally beautifully packaged in a smart grey tube. No better gift for £22.95

From our best-selling range from Country Candles, this candle has a fragrance evocatively Christmassy fragrance.  Floral high notes of lily and jasmine combined with juicy figs, leading to a woody trail of amber and cedar. Perfect for lighting and get cosy by the fire.
£10.50

and finally for anyone looking for a candle with a difference, these candle jars are both mystical, exotic and charming - on the left the luxury Japonica Limited Edition Charawan Candle - Moso Bamboo by Voluspa at 33.95 and on the right Ornate Candle Jars from Temerity Jones in four colourways at £16.50.

Sophie's Choice

We have asked each of our sales team to pick their 4 favourite products for our Buyers Pick feature.  

Here is Sophie's Choice and why she loves them so much!

Jellycat Bunny - cause it's just so darn soft! Clearly a source of comfort for all ages

Picture - as an artist myself I love the character and the colours of this picture. The Artwork at MAP (often supporting local artists) always fills me with inspiration.

Five on Brexit Island - as flawed humans we often make rash decisions but this is the best decision made in 2016 apparently. When the world goes to shit we can at least try to see the funny side.

Notebook - I've always been a sucker for stationary and now I look no further. MAP has the best selection at reasonable prices that make the best gifts, for myself included.

Woodland Friends meet Retro Toys - 2 more Christmas Decoration Themes

With just over 4 weeks to go -  this week we are revealing not one but 2 more of our Christmas Decoration Looks.  

Winter wouldn't be the same without our little woodland friends all made from natural materials - wood, bristle and twigs sprinkled with shimmering snow & a dusting of glitter for extra magic.  

I love the tradition of buying a new bauble each year - I buy my kids a bauble (or 2) each year, our tree has no theme, but is an eclectic mix of memories which reflect their interests at the time!  The retro decorations hold a Nostalgic Charm and will be treasured for years!

Oh K! The brand new beauty range from So-Ko

So-Ko (AKA South Korea) has long been the birthplace of innovative Beauty Products. This collection from Oh K! captures the essence of K-Beauty style with its carefully curated colour palette, quirky products, super cute characters and  playful packaging. Perfect for stockings, or even to hang on the tree.

All the products are well priced and are set to be the filler of choice for the stockings of all discerning beauty addicts this Christmas.

Third Time(Out) Lucky Again

We have done it again, for the third year running we are London N19's favourite shop!  Many congratulations to all the other winners you can see a full list here, but most importantly a really sincere and heartfelt thank you to every single one of our friends and customers who have voted for us again.  We really are feeling your love!

In the spirit of sharing the love - Ian and I asked  Nadia and Luke from our brilliant sales team to attend the Time Out Love London Event and collect the award on our behalf! 

Until next year, thanks for spreading the love!

Christmas Decorations 2016 - Lookbook 1

We have enjoyed a reputation over the years as one of the best retailers of Christmas Decorations.  We have gone the extra mile this Season to present the very best collection yet of Baubles and Decorations from around the world.  We have six amazing collections, here are the first three.

Mind the Gap - London Decorations
Kaleidescope - A colour & culture clash
Contemporary Vintage - A refreshing contemporary twist to a Vintage Christmas

Mind the Gap - Our ever popular collection of London Decorations is growing!  New this year we added the iconic London Underground Rondel,




Kaleidoscope - the second of our collections for Christmas 2016.  We love this clash of colour and culture - channelling India, Morocco and of course Mexico. 






Contemporary Vintage - Sounds like a contradiction in terms right?  But when you see our theme working together in our feature shop window, we think you'll see what we mean.  
The Vintage Collection of Decorations, Lanterns and products is a stunning range for all vintage and curios enthusiasts.

Contemporary Vintage

Sounds like a contradiction in terms right?  But when you see our theme working together in our feature shop window, we think you'll see what we mean.  
The Vintage Collection of Decorations, Lanterns and products is a stunning range for all vintage and curios enthusiasts.

We have a brilliant collection of gift ideas as well as a great collection of quirky Baubles working together in this theme.  

Life is too short for boring jewellery

Dansk Smykkekunst have been around for over 40 years and has one of the biggest collections of fashion jewellery in Scandinavia.  I've often wondered what made this brand so popular as gifts and I think their designer Malene has the answer.

The brand new Autumn/Winter 2016 collection really is incredibly easy to wear and instantly stylish.  With affordable prices too, I think this is their best collection to date.  Browse the whole collection here.