The holiday season is a time to show love and appreciation with gifts that inspire health, creativity, and joy. Whether you’re shopping for a wellness devotee, herb lover, curious kids, or even your furry friend, this guide has something special for everyone. I know what it can be like to be scrounging for last minute ideas, so I have written a last minute idea blog for you.

🎁 For the Wellness Enthusiast

• Massage or Naturopathy Gift Vouchers
  Give the gift of relaxation and rejuvenation. Whether it’s a calming massage or a naturopathy consultation, this voucher is perfect for anyone in need of some self-care.
• Water Filtration Systems
  Clean water is essential for optimal health, and high-quality filtration systems are an investment in well-being. Consider a premium gift like the Earth Tank or Waters Co MyWaterJug. These systems filter out harmful contaminants, including PFAS (forever chemicals), which can negatively impact health. A thoughtful, long-lasting gift for anyone prioritizing clean living.
• Yoga Mat
  Encourage movement and mindfulness with a durable and eco-friendly yoga mat—ideal for those who love stretching their bodies and minds.

🌿 For the Herbal Medicine Lover

• Ceramic Measuring Cups
  Taking herbal medicines is even more enjoyable with these adorable ceramic measuring cups. They’re both functional and charming, adding a little joy to every dose.
• Herb Cottage Gifts
  Browse through an extensive range of dried herbs, seeds, or young plants to grow. A perfect gift for the herb enthusiast ready to create their own remedies or teas.
• Herbal Tea Blends
  A delightful collection of organic teas for relaxation, digestion, or immune support.

🧸 For Kids

• Educational Anatomy and Herbal Medicine Books
  Ignite curiosity with engaging books like the Anatomy Book for Kids and the Herbal Medicine Book for Kids. They’re fun and educational gifts for budding scientists.
• Board Games for Family Fun
  Nothing beats quality time with classics like Operation, Battleship, Top Trumps, UNO, and Spot It.

📚 For the Bookworm

I know this isn’t natural medicine themed, but there’s nothing like losing yourself in a great story, and for the past few years, I’ve discovered the joy of audiobooks. It’s a great way to de-stress, that’s relevant isn’t it?

Whether I’m cooking, cleaning, exercising, putting away laundry, or driving by myself, listening to audiobooks has become one of my favourite ways to unwind and pass time.

• Audible Subscription
  A subscription to Audible is a fantastic gift for anyone who loves reading but wants the flexibility to listen on the go. With thousands of audiobooks to choose from, it’s a gift that keeps giving.
• Gift a Specific Title
  If you’d prefer to gift a specific book, here are some of my favourite reads from the last few years (and you can probably tell I’m a bit of a fantasy fan by these):
  • A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) – A gripping fantasy series filled with romance and adventure.
  • The Witches of Eileanan – A beautifully crafted tale of magic, rebellion, and destiny.
  • Outlander – Time travel, romance, and historical drama rolled into one.
  • Crescent City – A fast-paced urban fantasy with unforgettable characters.
  • Dune – A sci-fi masterpiece full of political intrigue and epic adventure.
  • Outlawed by Anna North – A reimagined Western with a feminist twist.
  • The Wheel of Time Series – A high-fantasy epic for fans of sprawling worlds and intricate plots.
  • Quicksilver – A rich and intricate fantasy novel with twists and turns at every corner.

Whether it’s an audiobook subscription or a carefully chosen title, these options are sure to make any book lover’s holiday season extra special!

🥤 For the Hydration Enthusiast

A high-quality drink bottle is a practical and thoughtful gift for anyone, especially those mindful of reducing their plastic use. Whether it’s for kids, work, the gym, or outdoor adventures, these are some of my favorite picks. They’re low-to-no plastic, relatively spill-proof (a must for little ones!), and stylish to boot.

• Yeti
  Durable, sleek, and excellent at keeping drinks hot or cold for hours. Perfect for both adventurous spirits and busy professionals.
• Citron
  A great option for kids, with fun designs and practicality in mind. These are functional, spill-proof, and easy for little hands to use.
• Planet Box
  Known for their commitment to sustainability, Planet Box water bottles are ideal for eco-conscious families.
• Hydro Flask
  A cult favorite for good reason—these bottles combine practicality with a stylish design, and they keep beverages at the perfect temperature all day long.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but these are some of my go-to recommendations for drink bottles that balance function, sustainability, and style. They make great stocking stuffers or standalone gifts for anyone on your list!

Check out my gift list from a few years ago for more ideas

Happy gifting, and may your holidays be filled with love, wellness, and joy! 🎁✨

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The post Christmas Gift Ideas – 2024 appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

Need some inspiration for gift giving this Christmas? I’ve compiled a list of present ideas for those people in your life who are interested in looking after the environment, reducing waste in their household and looking after their health. These gift ideas aren’t just good for Christmas, they’re good for any time of the year really – Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, birthday presents, you name it!
With present ideas ranging from $4 to $149 there’s plenty of options for everyone.

Beauty and Body Care

Massage voucher

I don’t know many people who don’t enjoy massage. I think that a voucher for a pamper session may get you more brownie points than a pretty or useful object, because it sends the message to your recipient that you care, you think they deserve some pampering, and you’re acknowledging all the things they do for you that makes them need that pampering.

You can purchase a voucher for a massage with myself here.
30 minutes – $55
60 minutes – $100

Silk pillow

While initially the idea of gifting a silk pillow might seem a bit strange, silk pillows are a great way to look after the delicate face on your skin, as well as your hair. Cotton absorbs moisture from your skin, can cause friction on the surface of the skin which can lead to wrinkles over time, and can pull on your hair, which leads to more fly aways and split ends. Silk doesn’t do these things and so can be a simple way to look after your skin. They are more expensive than your typical pillowcase but when it comes to the investment that many women put into their skin care, its worth it in the long run.

Go-To has a pure silk pillowcase for $65, or Slip has a variety of colours and patterns at $85

Foam Roller

One of the things I recommend to my massage patients frequently is to stretch and foam roll. Using a foam roller helps you to reduce tension and tightness in muscles, and is also good for fascia.

There’s lots around, but this one is more affordable and straight forward. – Foam roller

Weleda Skin Food and Lip Balm

If you haven’t tried the Weleda Skin Food, then you’re missing out. This gorgeous cream is great for all sorts of skin issues, I love it for all the drier areas such as feet and elbows. This pack is good value and comes with a soothing rose fragranced lip balm.

Weleda Gift Pack – Beauty Essentials – $24.95

Lip Gloss & polish Kit

I use this mineral lip gloss a lot and it leaves a lovely feel, and is a pretty colour. This is a good price with the polish as well.

Mineral Fusion Lip & Tip Kit – $18

Waste Less

Stainless Steel Lunch Box

I’m a fan of a stainless steel lunch box as a way to reduce the amount of plastic we’re exposing out kids to. Most companies will use BPA free plastics, but I’m leaning towards the ‘better safe than sorry’ mentality and avoiding as much plastic as I can, because we don’t have the long term safety data on the new plastic that has replaced the old BPA type.

I like this one because it seals nicely – Seed & Sprout $44

Reusable coffee cup

Given that we know how big an impact disposable coffee cups are making on our landfill AND we want to reduce plastic exposure where possible, reusable coffee cups are a great idea for my fellow caffeine lovers.

I love my glass KeepCup and it gets used more than my other reusable coffee cups because of it’s sturdiness and lack of leaks, however my favourite is my very pretty Pottery for the Planet cup.

KeepCup Medium LongPlay – $34

Joco Medium Glass Cup – $29.95

Biome Ceramic Coffee Cup – $34.95

Metal straws

A great stocking filler is a metal straw – it looks pretty but it’s good for the environment. The more people using less disposable plastic straws, the better. There’s different colours and shapes to choose from, and prices range from $3.50 to $16.95.

Reusable Food Wraps

Instead of going through gladwrap like there’s no tomorrow, reusable food wraps are gentler on the environment, but also your health (less plastic exposure).

I use beeswax food covers like these ones but for a vegan alternative you can use these silicon wraps – $27.

Handkerchief

Save all those tissues heading into landfill and look cute at the same time by using a hanky. There’s lots of reasons why carrying a hanky is a good idea, and it’s not nearly as gross as some may think.

If you accidently leave it in your pocket it won’t cover your clothes in lint. It’ll just get clean.

If you haven’t blown your nose on it already you can mop your brow with it, use it as a barrier for unclean doorknobs, clean your glasses or phone screen and more, plus you can offer it chivalrously to a friend in need.

Ideally you’d have one for every day of the week, and change to a fresh one every day, washing at the end of the week. Hankies are pretty big so if you do need to blow your nose a few times on it there’s plenty of space.

Check out these gorgeous designs at $11.95.

 

Produce Bag

A lightweight string bag is a great option for putting your fruit and veg into at the grocers, because it won’t add too much onto the scales.

Choose one like this and you’ll be looking trendy at the same time.

Organic Cotton String Shopping Bag – $14.95

Composters

I’ve asked my parents to get me a pet waste composter for Christmas. Yes a bit strange I know, but that’s me.

I like that it will save the plastic bag usage in collecting the poos (I have a Labrador so have to collect daily), but with time it will improve my soil.

Just dig a hole, bury the composter and then start adding the dog poo along with the starter grains and it will start composting the poo down into the soil.

For a more traditional type of composter you have plenty of options.

I love my worm farm – since I’ve gotten the hang out how much to feed and water the worms they are thriving and I’m regularly getting liquid fertiliser for my garden. I got mine with a discount from my local council through https://compostrevolution.com.au.

Books

Recipe Books

Who doesn’t love a nice fresh bit of cooking inspiration! I for one love getting a new recipe book, and will keep it on the bench for weeks at a time while I chip away at the new recipes.

There’s endless choices, but here are some of my favourites.

Deliciously Ella The Plant Based Cookbook: 100 simple vegan recipes to make every day delicious  by Ella Mills – this has some gorgeous flavour combinations and is very inspiring for increasing the diversity of ways you have vegetables in your diet. I will have the meals as a side to a serve of meat or it’s fine to have it on it’s own. I love the Harissa Eggplant and the Cauliflower and turmeric salad.

Living the Healthy Life by Jessica Sepel – Gorgeous recipes and a lot of healthy eating and lifestyle tips as well. A very pretty book to look at and the recipes as tasty and easy to make.

Wholesome Child by Mandy Sacher. This one is a great choice for people who have young kids, because it’s meals are family focused as well as being great for cooking for kids. I’ve written a review of this book here, so feel free to check it out.

Kitchen Novice eBook and Meal Plan by Alison Mitchell (that’s me!) – Oh and did you know that I have a meal plan and recipe book? It’s designed around whole food for people who are getting familiar with cooking, so if you like the idea of a recipe book and healthy eating but don’t feel confident in the kitchen, check this one out. It also has a guide on learning to eat well, a meal plan and a shopping list, all for $24.95.

Other Books

Not everyone wants a recipe book, so here are some other great books you can consider.

One Bite At A Time by Sarah Lantz & Tabitha McIntosh – This book delves into the issues facing our health and our environment as a result of chemical exposure. It is a gorgeous book as well so would make a beautiful coffee table book, something that will certainly be a conversation starter.

The Barefoot Investor by Scott Pape – Touted as being the only money guide you’ll ever need, this could be a great idea for friends or family alike. This book has ranked #1 on Amazon multiple times and is currently still #1 in wealth books. Financial stress is a big one and cutting this down will make this gift recipient grateful for your thoughts.

Idaho by Emily Ruskovich – There’s nothing quite like sitting with a good book and a cup of tea to relax and take your mind off the worries of life. Sadly I haven’t read a fiction book in over a year, so I asked my book loving husband what his favourite book of the last year was, and this was it. I asked ‘What do you like about it’, and true to his English Teacher form he replied: “An engaging story with well written prose and emotional poignancy.” Sounds good to me.

Audiobooks

Since having kids I don’t get much time to sit down and read, but not prepared to give up my fantasy novels I turned to audiobooks. When I’m cooking, driving by myself or going for a run I will put on an audio book and it helps me to chill out, but I’m still getting things done.

Audible books vary in price but if you get a membership you get a credit each month, making the books much cheaper in the long run.

I have gifted Audible Memberships before and it’s been well received. But you might just want to get it for yourself. I love my audiobooks – I went through the entire Outlander series on Audible, and my recent favourites are The Millenium Series (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), The Kingkiller Chronicles (The Name of the Wind) and The Sellout.

I’ve also done a fair few non-fiction books on Audible such as Work Rules by Lazlo Block, Eat The Yolks, Gut and Food Politics.

Gift a membership here.

Other

Seed Card

A seed packet and gift card all in one, these cute little cards are a great gift for all ages.

Sow ‘n Sow Seed Card $9.95

Herbal Teas

I’ve tried a lot of different herbal tea blends and I keep coming back to Burton Health Tea. I love the herbal blends in each of them, but the flavours of the teas are carefully thought out and well executed. A 30 serve bag of tea is very cost effective and a great gift idea.

Perhaps you might like to give the TeaStress blend to a person who is under a bit of pressure in their life.

Or perhaps you know someone who gets sick all the time, in which case Immunitea might be a good choice.

Rest and Digest is one of my favourite blends – it helps to get he nervous system and digestive system talking to each other again, switching you back into a parasympathetic nervous system state.

Or the other option is Dandy Chai, a delicious blend that is warming and good for your digestion.

Check out the teas here, and if you use code NATNSW at checkout you will receive a 10% discount.

Burton Health Tea – from $9.00

Spiraliser

Spiralizer – Making zucchini noodles can be loads of fun, but if you get a good quality spiralizer you can make noodles out of loads more vegetables. Increase your vegetable intake and have fun doing it.

Water Filter

Remove the bad stuff, and put back in the good stuff with a water filter. I like this little one because it’s cost effective and can be carried around with you when travelling. It is made from plastic but you could fill it up, let it filter through them tip it into a stainless steel or glass bottle.

Mini Waterman Water Filter Bottle 600ml – $79.95

Why would you want to filter your water?

Chlorine in tap water is thought to negatively affect our gut bacteria balance, and it can also affect our iodine levels. Flouride is another chemical that can affect iodine levels and thyroid health, but if you’re still wanting to get the fluoride for your teeth, the amount you’re exposed to when rinsing your teeth when brushing them is enough to do it’s job. It also helps to filter our pesticide residue and other heavy metals.

Blue Blocking Glasses

Did you know that we are constantly exposed to blue light through TV screens, computers, phones and tablets. It affects our melatonin levels, a hormone that we make through our eyes in response to orange light. Altered melatonin levels can cause issues with hormone balance but mostly affects our sleep.

Blue light from the sky is actually important in the day to normalise our circadian rhythms and promote mental wellbeing, but when we’re being exposed to excessive amounts of it from our screens this can be a problem, and in addition the wavelengths from the screen are different to the blue in our natural environment which makes them harmful.

Clever people have found ways to counter this effect by tinting glasses – these glasses used to be very uncool, bright orange safety type glasses, but now there are glasses that look like normal glasses, and they even come with the option to put your prescription into them.

BLUblox is an Australian company that has created three types of lenses – the standard clear lense filters blue light from your computer screens which reduces eye strain and reduce the impact of the blue light on melatonin and other hormones.

You’ve also got the option of red lenses for that extra melatonin boost in the hours before bed, and yellow glasses to promote a heightened sense of happiness in the day.

So if you know somebody who works in front of a computer screen all the time, why not share this with them or pair for Christmas.

BluBlox – $149.95

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which means I make a small commission if you make a purchase from using that link. This helps contribute to the ongoing costs of running this website. Thank you for your support.

The post Gift Guide for the Health and Environment Conscious appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

Are you searching for ideas for Mother’s Day gifts? I’ve come up with some awesome suggestions that I’m sure most Mum’s will love. From a gift voucher for a relaxing massage, to some organic, chemical free skin products, to a DIY decorated mug, you won’t be short of ideas after reading this.

Design your Own Beautiful Mug

Don’t want to spend much? Make Mum a gift! This DIY decorated mug is a great idea and will be a fun activity to do.
Start with a solid coloured mug (or a few) from a cheap store and decorate it. This could be a great one for the kiddies to do (with parental supervision of course).

My favourite is the Nail Polish Marble Mug. You could also use this technique to decorate votive candle holders, vases, saucers or potplants.
Marble Mugs

Using a Porcelain Marker pen you can decorate a mug in all sorts of ways
This link gives you ideas about how to transfer a printable picture so it’s easier to draw, or some inspiration to draw some geometric patterns.
Marker Mugs

High tea

Take your Mummy on a date to High Tea, or give her a gift voucher for another time.

Here are some lovely places to consider:
The Sebel, Hawkesbury – $44 pp
The Fairmont Resort, Leura – $49-$65 pp
Lilianfels, Katoomba, $49-$69 pp

A tea subscription.

Does your Mum love herbal tea? For a gift that will last well past May 14th, consider a subscription of organic herbal tea.

Burton Health offers a monthly tea subscription which delivers a bag of organic tea to your door along with an information sheet about each tea blend, new members get a travel mug, and each month there are surprise goodies included. With each month Mum gets a present in the mail that will remind her of your kind gift.

Membership ranges from 3 months for $99 or a years worth for $299. Alternatively you can just purchase her a single pack of tea, which is all available to peruse on the club website.
Burton Health Tea Club

A relaxing massage.

Ease stress and sore muscles with a therapeutic, relaxing massage. Pregnancy massage is great gift idea for a Mum-to-be as well!
Massages are available with me at the Windsor clinic on Wednesdays and Saturdays, or Fridays at Dural.
60min for $95
30 min for $55

Email me for a voucher, or Book Online for Dural or Call for appointments at Windsor

Skin Juice Box of Goodness – Hand Cream and Green Balm

This pack contains the all-purpose Skin Juice Green Balm, and Perfect Paws hand cream.

I swear by the Skin Juice Green Balm, you can use it for rough skin, as a night cream, for rashes and a bit of eczema, as a lip balm, soothe cuts and bruises. It softens, soothes and conditions all areas of skin you want to apply it to. (It’s also safe to use on babies from 4 weeks and safe during pregnancy). The hand cream smells lovely and isn’t greasy.
This pack with the hand moisturiser and green balm together is on sale at the moment on Nourished Life – $36 down from $55; or just get the Green Balm for $29.50

Skin Juice Just Squeezed Box of Goodness

Green Juice All Over Skin Balm

Make her a cake.

Try my recipe for a gluten free Plum and Orange Cake.

Women Essence – Australian Bush Flower Essence

This blend of Bush Flowers is designed to assist in balancing emotional imbalances that are common during menstruation, menopause, pregnancy and more. This gentle formula works on an energetic level and may help with mood swings, hot flushes, and more. For more detail look at the individual essences on the website.

Women Essence Drops

The Divine Company Hand Series

What Mum doesn’t have hardworking hands. Give them some love with a beautiful, nasty-chemical free cleanser and moisturiser. This moisturiser smells just divine. (Get it?)
Last year I interviewed the founder of this company, Therese Kerr about natural beauty products. You can check that out here.
The cleanser and moisturiser combo is on sale for $79.95: The Divine Company Organic Hand Series

Or just get the moisturiser for $49.95
The Divine Company Organic Hand & Body Lotion

So that’s my suggestions. What do you think? Any other ideas?

This post contains some affiliate links. Thank you for your support.

The post Gift Ideas for Mother’s Day appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.