My Xmas Gift Guide

Mr M and I have loved more than ever this year buying all of our gifts for our loved ones for Christmas but it has been on my mind more so than ever how lucky I am to live in this blessed country Australia, and how I have the gift of health, food, shelter and opportunity. I think there are at least one or two people each year I struggle to buy for simply because they really do 'have everything' or because they are just much too hard to find the perfect gift. I have adored going through all the blog gift ideas this year and in fact got some fantastic Christmas present hints myself, but thought I would do my own gift guide with a twist as I bought those 'they have everything' people something a little different this year that I hope they'll appreciate. So, please, if you are struggling to find the gift for someone because they have everything, or are about to just buy a bottle of wine or chocolates for the sake of it - give it a miss and buy them something they'll hopefully love (hints below) as it gives back so much more.

UNICEF do each year, as many big charity organisations do - gifts for those less fortunate than us that can cost minimal but change lives & communities. Below, are just some of the gift ideas you can purchase from there website here. You can print off what you've gotten the person and have it under the tree the same night whilst changing lives overseas - and all only 3 sleeps out from Christmas.

$10 GIFT - PENCILS - Sharpen up with 500 pencils and watch a lifelong learning journey unfold. So incredibly simple, pencils will help to unlock imagination and creativity, and are a vital tool for learning. For a child, it's a creative opening and an inspirational new possession. For just $10 you can buy 50 boxes of 10 pencils

$29 GIFT - POLIO VACCINES - Your gift gives 200 children the certainty of a life without polio, a major injection of goodwill. Causing kids serious paralysis, the aftermath of Polio will last a lifetime. 

$31 GIFT - MEASLES VACCINES - These fab jabs will protect 100 kids from measles. Every day 600 kids around the world suffer needlessly from measles. 

$32 GIFT - ANTI MALARIAL DRUGS - Mozzies meet their match with drug treatment to beat malaria. This gift can supply 30 doses of this life-saving course of anti-malarial treatment. 

$63 GIFT - MOSQUITO NETS - A mozzie-free sleep is what mums and babies need to stay safe from malaria. In Africa, Malaria claims a child's life every 30 seconds, but with the use of something as simple as an insecticide-treated mosquito net, infection rates can be reduced by half. 

$74 GIFT - THERAPEUTIC FOOD - Peanutty Plumpy'Nut is the super food that gets a malnourished baby back to health fast. Plumpy'Nut is a high protein, peanut-based paste that can be given to children without being mixed in water. 

$75 GIFT - THERAPEUTIC MILK - When minus a mother's milk, this gift keeps baby fed. When children are separated from their mothers, or when mum isn't in good health herself, this milk-based powder formula has added vegetable fats, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals and boosts the chances of a malnourished child getting better. This gift is vital in emergency feeding centres in times of crisis.