Christmas songs, cinnamon and ginger aroma, shared moments and joy. Wonderful days are coming when we will be able to enjoy the time spent with our loved ones, in the comfort of our festively decorated homes. We have prepared for you some interesting gift ideas to surprise your dear ones. Our selection is entirely in support of Bulgarian authors – people with vision and attitude who have chosen to create and work here, for us.

1. We start with something which you can please anyone who loves sweet surprises with. Lu Bakery is known for the beautiful cakes and pastries, created by hand with a lot of finesse using high quality products. Every Christmas Lyuba Atanasova prepares her “Winter Treats LUbakery”, boxes full of sweats in the form of nuts, filled with caramel cream. You can order here.

2. We continue on a delicious theme – In “La Maison de Katarzyna” you can prepare your own holiday box or gift basket by choosing from the limited series of wines of the cellar and gourmet products available in the store.

3. Nice porcelain and scented candles for a beautifully arranged table and comfort in the home during the holidays. ART.E make candles with natural essential oils, which they pour into their own handmade porcelain cups. Especially for the holidays they have created the limited series “Winter Forest”, which can be perfectly combined with the plates and cups that the talented authors offer in their store at 17 “Veslets Street” in Sofia.

4. In this beautiful porcelain you can drink your tea, and our offer for a Bulgarian brand that makes three wonderful blends is OMAYA HERBS. This is a line of teas for the body, soul and mind, created with Bulgarian herbs, inspired by the ancient wisdom to live in harmony with nature.

5. While we are on the topic of natural ingredients, here is our proposal for a Bulgarian cosmetics brand, which is also inspired by nature. ETERINA is a family, cosmetic niche brand that works with pure natural products and plant extracts. Handmade cosmetics with organic ingredients, packed with care for nature, as the company’s production has a minimal environmental footprint.

6. One of the favorite gifts for every woman is jewelry. Our choice is an author whose collections can be seen in galleries in more than twenty cities around the world, including New York, Sydney, Berlin and Liverpool. Without exaggeration, Nikolay Sardamov’s jewelry can be considered as a work of art, which over time has acquired collector’s value. Recognizable style that is valued by women with character and strong personality. You can make your choice here or contact the author to arrange a visit to his artistic studio at “Narodno Sabranie” Square in Sofia.

7. With care for your favorite women we share our the next idea for a Christmas gift. Voucher for the service “Personal styling and shopping consultation”, with which you can give a new vision and styling solutions achieved with the help of a professional stylist and image consultant. The service includes a wardrobe analysis and tips on how to most effectively shop and combine clothes and accessories. A capsule wardrobe is formed, with cuts and silhouettes that best suit the specific type of figure, by defining the most appropriate colours, prints and fabrics in the client’s clothing. You can find out more about the service here.

8. A great way to give a beautiful experience is a voucher for a horseback riding lesson. Adgor Equestrian Center is located near Sofia, in a beautiful ecologically clean area with an exciting view of four mountains – Rila, Verila, Vitosha and Plana.The base offers riding lessons for both beginners and advanced. Adgor is the first place in Bulgaria where the methods and practices of Natural horsemanship (natural relations between man and horse), work from the ground with horses and their training based on their natural relationships in the herd are introduced.

If you want to give another type of emotion and an exciting experience as a gift, you can look at different ideas for this here. You will find vouchers for entertainment in the city, extreme experiences, beauty and spa treatments, holidays, sports, travel and adventure, drawing, singing and dancing lessons, and a bunch of other offers to make someone’s dream come true or just to give your loved one a chance to spend a great day.

9. Another good gift idea is also a themed cooking class with which you can surprise a loved one. Instead, here we chose as a proposal the new book by Irina Tencheva – “Rituals from my kitchen”, in which the author has collected recipes for a hundred of her favorite dishes, along with interesting stories about delicious rituals in the lives of her family and friends.

Books are a great gift.  In this category we supplement our selection with “Letters of Omar to his future wife” by Rene Karabash, who is among the most translated Bulgarian contemporary poets and writers.

You can present this or another book in an even more beautiful way if you combine it with one of SYTARA, you are the sun ‘s handmade bookmarks that look like jewelry.

10. You can follow the days of the coming year in the calendar with beautiful illustrations by the Bulgarian artist Mila Lozanova. Another interesting option we came across is this Seasonal Calendar, which includes a list of foods that are in season – fruits, vegetables and spices that are grown outdoors in our country. You can order them here:

To experience the pleasure of shopping for gifts for loved ones, we advise you not to leave this beautiful ritual for the last minute.

(The article has been written for the Lifestyle column at www.ues.bg )