The FAIRE 2022 Gift Guide
Things We Love
by Ruth Ribeaucourt, Editor in Chief
So many of the items below are not simply for gifting at Christmas but can be ideas for loved ones’ birthdays or even for those moments when you want to mark and celebrate a personal achievement.
I’ve personally pushed myself hard this year, saying yes to a lot of opportunities that put me deeply outside my comfort zone but at the end of every ‘job’ was this sense of euphoric pride. A personal acknowledgment, that despite my secret fears, I was able to rise to the challenge, to get it done and pull everything together - no matter the swirling chaos.
It was also a year of making uncomfortable but important decisions for me and FAIRE, and my friend and FAIRE columnist Ruth Steadman reminded me that often when we have those really painful, tense conversations, or when our intuition is warning us to walk away from situations, that we should reward ourselves after - to train our minds into understanding that ‘sticking up for ourselves’ or ‘doing the right thing’ no matter how yucky it feels - is not just necessary but good for us. So I have done that this year and it wasn’t necessarily expensive items but always something beautiful.
A very special piece of jewellery from French jewellery maker Veronique Renard
Jewelry by French designer Charlotte Chesnais - the next big ‘birthday’ I’m asking for one of these beauties.
“When you begin a collage, particularly if you’re being a little raucous, you have to put things down without knowing where it’s going. And you have to put quite a few things down before making any of the things chime with each other. That is scary because you think, is this going to work? Ultimately you find your groove and it comes together. ”
Baba Tree Large Multicolor Bicycle Basket,
Handwoven in Ghana
Marcie McGoldrick Cameo Jewelry
Baies Rose Dishwashing Liquid by Astier de Villatte
Jack Welbourne Large Herringbone Jug - curated artist by Toast.
These oh-so-beautiful ‘leather marquetry bags’ from ‘The English Garden’ collaboration between artist Mark Hearld and Maison Moynat.
@mark_hearld @moynat
Lavenham Wax Cotton Poncho by Toast
CookBooks
For me love is cooking, gathering, and feeding the people I adore.
These are some of my favourite go-to cookbooks - pages are lived-in and thumbed with food covered fingerprint smudges. I’ve also included a few that I dream of adding to my collection
Emiko Davies - a FAIRE favourite and everyone of her books is a warm hug.
FRENCH COUNTRY COOKING, Meals and Moments from A Village in the Vineyards.
My personal creative heroine of 2022, Ukraine-born, London-based chef and cookbook author Olia Hercules has been a tireless activist this year, raising awareness and funds for her home and family in Ukraine. Her book Home Food: 100 Recipes to Comfort and Connect is an absolutely must to add to your kitchen!
When French Women Cook - M. Kamman (recommended by Kate Hill)
Seconde main - by Francois Motte. This is a book for those who share the love of antiquing and entertaining - a fab book about tablescape design combining vintage and new.
Coconut and Sambal: Recipes From My Indonesian Kitchen Indonesian-Australian chef and writer Lara Lee
Cannelle et Vanille Bakes Simple: A New Way to Bake Gluten-Free by Aran Goyoaga.
Gather - by Gill Meller
Cook this Book by Molly Baz (recommended by Trish Andersen)
Simple by Ottolenghi - my go-to dinner party book.
And for Mains by Gaz Smith and Rick Higgins, an award-winning Irish cookbook with a ton of heart - published by FAIRE editor Kristin Jensen
Gateau: The Surprising Simplicity of French Cakes, in which James Beard Award-winning writer Aleksandra Crapanzano shares “the secrets of the cakes Parisians bake at home”
Cake, by the artist Maira Kalman together with food writer Barbara Scott-Goodman
For Food Lovers
Gourmet gift boxes - we received a surprise gift from DLish of the Prosecco box and it’s a very beautiful luxury box set. This would be a perfect ‘bon vivant’ gift to send to a friend or loved one for any special celebration (Christmas / Birthday or anniversary). They ship all over the world.
Cecille Weldon teatowels. Her handprinted textiles bring soul and nature into your home.
“These patterns of the natural world – what repeats and what connects – have fascinated me since childhood and they translate seamlessly into the decorative play of fabric design.”
For the ‘serious’ cook in the family - the 9.47 Table Knife, designed by Michelin-starred chef Yves Charles for Perceval would be a perfect gift.
The Alessi Socrates Corkscrew, for the wine lovers in the family.
Sustainable and gorgeous - these Waxed Linen Wraps from Wax Atelier of London - in botanically dyed colors - are the perfect marriage of sustainable design and function.
Mariage Frères - my favourite tea is Wedding Imperial and this is something I’ll treat myself too as it feels luxurious, gourmande and utterly yum.
Stable of Ireland linen napkins, the very best of fine Irish linen with vibrant contemporary colours and textures.
Diaspora gift bundles: I’m a little obsessed with this female-founded spice company, which set out to build ‘a better spice trade, equitably and deliciously.’.
Easy Love Tea
Coffee club: I am a big coffee fan and would love to receive a present of tasting different gourmet coffees every month of the year. This coffee Club is USA based only but there are other companies creating subscription coffee packages across Europe and Internationally.
Everything Flowers
The greatest luxury for many of us is time. Time to create, time to slow down and watch the seasons roll in. For those of us living in the countryside with a little plot of land to create a garden, there is nothing more magical than getting dirt under your fingernails and creating a garden. Making time to plant seeds and bulbs and then watching the garden spring to life months later.
LITTLE FLOWER GARDENER – CUT FLOWER GARDEN
A beautiful gift set for little flower gardeners and those who want to become one. It contains everything you need for growing and harvesting cut flowers – including four beautiful varieties of seeds that especially appeal to children. It can be used to harvest many small and large bouquets for mom, dad and grandma. A whole summer long!
“Flowers don’t ask you to slow down, they demand it. Demand you fail in order to learn how to do something better.
Learning how to grow flowers is about readjusting your year to the seasons, the stages of growing, religiously checking the weather. It ripped open something bigger, because once you start watching how the months change around you, you notice the wildflowers changing, the blossoms becoming fruits, the colours, the drum beat of the year, and it forces you to slow down and see that ‘success’ is arbitrary, a mere invention of a capitalist human life.”
Ali Lanenga lives at Rose Hill Cottage in Portland, Oregon with her husband, two daughters, dog, and a messy garden full of flowers. Her pieces all begin in the garden. Cultivating and sourcing the best blooms— many from her own garden.
Festive Winter Wreath Class (Online)
We’ll connect via zoom, from the comfort of your home and my studio, for an hour long session where I will share the ways in which I create everlasting winter wreaths.
Working with materials grown and dried here in my cutting garden, I will show you how to wreath thoughtfully and considerately and combine fresh with dried to create a wreath that will take you to Christmas and beyond. Come with your own materials and make along with me or simply enjoy an hour of blissful floral festive chat.
“To make, to create and the desire to be close to and immersed in nature are part of my being. It’s like breathing – a necessity for living and life. ”
The From Seed To Bloom Collection
The From Seed To Bloom collection has arrived help anyone grow from seed to bloom, spend a year immersing yourself with the art of growing and designing with seasonal flowers guided along by the book. It had to be paired with Studio Snips- they feature in every chapter of the book- I never work without a pair close to hand!
The perfect gift for gardeners and flower lovers. Handcrafted by Bren Webb, this Australian made flower press is 14cm x 19cm in size and includes 4 layers of card and 10 layers of acid free paper so you preserve multiple flowers at once.
“To grow from small seeds, to see the first leaves sprout from the earth, to put the young seedlings in the ground, the care, the growth, the fruiting, the harvest – experiencing this whole process ourselves is incredibly enriching and inspiring.”
A 1000-piece puzzle from Princeton Architectural Press made from one of Christin's floral photographs. Christin Geall is the author of Cultivated: The Elements of Floral Style. A writer, speaker, designer, and photographer, she lives in Victoria, British Columbia.
Give the gift of a floral course
Six beautiful seasonal courses designed to grow your creative confidence and embrace your floral artistry
Handmade jewellery, phone cases, and hair clips by two sisters in Alaska and Hawaii
Getaways
What a gift it would be to sneak away for a week or two, to switch off the phones and social media and get out and have the cobwebs blown away.
“From the local
carpenters who did all the beautiful oak joinery, to the handwoven textiles by Eddie Doherty, framed seaweed
prints from Superfolk, sculptural basket weavings by Joe Hogan, the bespoke furniture created by Tricia Harris and Simon O’Driscoll, to the Irish-made luxury mattresses on every bed. Everything we do is driven by
relationships and we love sharing these craftspeople and their stories with our guests.”
Holmenlofoten
Breac.House in Hornhead, Donegal, Ireland. This is truly one of the most beautiful homes I’ve ever experienced, it is a modern, adults-only luxury hideaway tucked away in a landscape softened by heather, bracken and lichen-blanketed dry stone walls. What I wouldn’t give to be holed-up here watching the wild Donegal weather roll in from the Atlantic ocean and up the valley below.
The Gate Lodge at Trematon Castle in Cornwall, a historical property restored and decorated by House of Hackney founders Frieda Gormley and Javvy M Royle.
Independent Magazines
These are voices that disobey the ‘traditional rules’ of print magazine publishing. They are full of energy and passion, they strive to tell stories better, kinder, with more integrity - they don’t know the rules so they break every single one of them and in doing so every page is bloody exciting. These are the voices I’m supporting this Christmas and gifting to those I love.
Very possibly the most beautiful magazine I've ever held in my hands - created by two French designers Camille Gressier and Isabelle Laydier Kristensen. It is a sensuous, dreamy, smart, lush art book - magazine hybrid.
Lodestars Ireland - pre-order
We're very excited for the next issue of Lodestars which will focus on Ireland - and inside I have shot and written two features about contemporary Irish creatives doing exhilarating wonderful things.
This magazine grips me in a way that most others don't. Mesmerising, thoughtfully written features about the most fab creatives in the food world today. I'm hooked
The very beautiful Galah magazine created by Annabelle Hickson and her fab team - celebrating stories from the bush in the most beautiful way.
FAIRE Editor Kristin Jensen - and one of the most influential changemakers in food publishing today has created a new Irish food magazine - SCOOP. It is created with the signature passion and heart that Kristin brings to all her many projects be it Nine Bean Rows Books and Blasta Books.
Last but certainly not least
We are so excited to be already working on issue 8 (which will launch March 2023) and with every annual subscription - you help support our work in shining a gorgeous bright light on makers, creatives, artists, artisans, and craftspeople around the world.
You can support FAIRE by gifting an annual subscription to someone you love.
