On an O/E many moons ago, I remember sitting in a cafe in Ithaca, Greece and ordering a range of fresh salads. A humus salad was presented as a plate of humus drenched in olive oil, followed by a tomato salad : tomatoes lost in a sea of olive oil and a green salad: yep you guessed it, lettuce drowning in olive oil also. A far cry from the classic Greek salad we are used to, or so I thought at the time.
Read MoreCelebrating our very own Matariki this week, we thought it the perfect time showcase some of our wonderful local artisan Northland made gift box suppliers & share their artistic & original Northland flare.
Read MoreRevival being the optimal word when it comes to flowers. Who hasn’t tried all sorts of ways to get the most out of freshly picked flowers? Whether it be a Mothers day gift or a gorgeous pick from your own garden to liven up the house, it can be quite sad when your bright bouquet withers after just a couple of days. Do not despair, Dried Flowers can save your day!
Read MoreThe history of Valentines Day is much more interesting than first thought. Legends of paganism, religion, tragedy, sacrifice and of course love & romance, makes this celebration day worthy of a feature film!
Read MoreThe story tells of a young married couple, James, known as Jim, and Della Dillingham. The couple has very little money and lives in a modest apartment. Between them, they have only two possessions that they consider their treasures: Jim's gold pocket watch that belonged to his father and his grandfather, and Della's lustrous, long hair that falls almost to her knees.
Read MoreTucked away in a private 1.5 hectare oasis, near Piroa Falls in Waipu, is our very own local Roastery, Air Coffee.
Meet Walter, specialty coffee Roaster and Taster at Air Coffee and supplier of our increasingly popular Mocha gift boxes. In a Mud brick house surrounded by luscious Manuka and Nikau , Walter makes us a “pour over” coffee while we sit down for a chin wag.
Read MoreOnce upon a time, there was a 9 year old boy named Alex. Alex lives with his Mum in Bream Bay, Northland where there are lots of kids his age, who enjoy the beautiful parks, beaches and playing with their mates at school.
Alex has a disability. This means he is confined to his wheelchair and finds it difficult to join in with the other children at play and at school. This is a story about the inspiration and courage of two liked minded women striving to bring enjoyment to children's lives through their new local charity : Children with Disability NZ.
Read MoreWe all know that feeling when you jump out of the shower and go to apply your morning skin routine to find you are out of moisturiser! You instantly swear to get more organised and stock up before hand next time.
I must confess this happens to me ALL the time, and is what prompted a very overdue meet and greet with one of our local gift box suppliers, Lara and Dan of Matakana Skincare.
Read MoreSurely a last minute dash to the florist for a bunch of flowers or a box of chocys isn’t the be all and end all? After all, this day is about spoiling your mum, wife or any other special woman in your life. It is a day to show your gratitude toward this woman whom you respect and love.
Read MoreGratitude gift boxes had moved to Waipu. Pretty quickly some kind of shelving was needed to store the products. Shelves can be costly to buy, especially if you want them to be made from natural eco friendly materials. They also need to be strong and solid to safely support the weight of the stock.
Read MorePossibly not a topic we really think much about in our daily wash routine, but for soap maker Alicja of SANOlifestyle, it’s actually both. On a steamy hot January day at a cafe in Whangarei, I had the pleasure of meeting up with Alicja (Ala) who had some very interesting stories about how soap is actually made.
Read MoreOur search for more locally handmade gems to add to our NZ made gift boxes continues….. after a visit to the Quarry Arts Centre in Whangarei, we discovered, hidden away in her own Northland tropical oasis, ceramics Artist and Potter, Marilyn Krey.
Read MoreHave you ever met that person who is such a perfectionist, that even after hours, days or weeks of work, if what they are doing is not quite good enough, it gets binned and they start over?
Local Waipu Fashion designer, Tracey Ann is that person. Her passion for design started as a child. “ I drove Mum mad” Tracey says. A very active child, she would be always creating things from scratch but if she didn’t like the end product she would start all over again.
Read MoreRemember the excitement as a child, of ripping open presents Christmas day? And, if there were siblings and cousins around, it all turning into a kind of feral ritual, the result being torn wrapping paper and envelopes strewn all over the living room floor!
Now, all grown up, we do things a little bit differently…….
Read MoreFinding a premium handmade chocolate to add to our NZ gift box range, proved more time consuming than first thought, until we came across Chocolate Brown. We all know the Swiss are master’s in the art of chocolate making, and Chocolate Brown is no different.
Read MoreWhen it comes to stunning scenery, views, and East Coast beaches, we are spoilt for choice in beautiful Northland. So discovering an equally outstanding and affordable luxury apartment that is Marina Cove in Opua, was the icing on the cake on a recent visit to the Bay of Islands.
Read MoreTucked away in a stunning seaside location in Parua Bay, Northland is the home of Taihoa Tides Extra Virgin Olive Oil. We all know olive oil is good for you, and Taihoa Tides tastes great! On our search for a high quality Northland olive oil for our NZ Gift box range, we were lucky enough to spend a few hours with owner Denise, who gave us a tour of their beautiful orchard and treated us to a tasting of their varieties of Taihoa olive oil.
Read MoreHow do you have yours? Crunchy or smooth? With butter or without? Hot or cold? However you have your toast, you will be doing yourself a disservice if you weren’t applying lashings of your favourite Fix & Fogg Peanut Butter. The F&F journey started five years ago - two lawyers were making and selling peanut butter in local markets around Wellington until they decided to chuck in corporate life and dedicated themselves to ‘nut’ life.
Read MoreWell, actually as I sit here, not so Winterless today as the rain comes belting down and the wind sends the ponies into a frenzy! After purchasing Gratitude Gift boxes a few months back, I thought an intro was in order.
Read MoreWho doesn’t like Chocolate and coffee? Or even better, Chocolate coated coffee beans! Imagine our delight when we searched for a chocolate maker for our NZ Gift box range and found The Chocolate barn located in our own town Waipu. And, if coffee isn’t for you how does macadamia or goji berries coated in milk or dark chocolate sound?
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