A new Christmas tradition we love and have embraced here at The Small Home are table favours.
As much as we love a Christmas cracker, the expense of this short lived pleasure, added to the guilt about the waste of the luxury metallic paper and the trinkets inside - which I couldn’t find a use for, but couldn’t bear to throw away - needed to change.
The Christmas table favour is a sustainable alternative to the cracker and by using small gifts which are beautiful and useful, they offer maximum pleasure and zero waste.
As well as introducing a sense of celebration and decoration to the festive table, these small Christmas gifts are a conversation starter and set a wonderfully welcoming tone.
This year, my Christmas table favours will be our cinnamon wood storage box, filled with handmade dark chocolate stars made at Ateliers Chocolate, run by our French friends Nathalie and Olivier at Malis Castera in Bordeaux.
This was an artisan chocolate-making workshop which our whole family enjoyed and I would highly recommend, but it’s Christmas so if you are rushed off your feet, then Dairy Milk Chocolate Buttons or Milky Way Magic Stars would work well, as would a few of their favourite chocolates or mini biscuits made by the children.
Watch my guide on how to make these delicious table favours and if you would like to make these yourself, you can shop our kit here
The gentle aroma of the natural cinnamon bark infuses the chocolate with a delicate flavour. Each cinnamon box is wrapped in Furoshiki wrap, cut to fit, which looks pretty on the festive table. The box can later be used to store cinnamon or as a container for jewellery. A natural cinnamon star is a final flourish which can later decorate the guest’s own Christmas tree.
The Christmas table favour works well for guests young and old, male and female, but its real beauty is in bringing a more lasting pleasure.
Christmas table favour ideas include a handmade bud vase, filled with a flower or sprig of foliage, positioned at each place setting. Delight each guest when you invite them to take the bud vase home when they leave.
Fragrant organic hand soaps are lovely to use and can be enjoyed by all. Buy a bundle of two and split between guests.
A beautiful and simple ethical horn bangles can be slipped on straight away and feels like a treat.
Other Christmas table favours ideas include high-quality wool socks in beautiful patterns which make hugely practical gifts and suit all guests.
Candles never fail to delight. Buy a box or two of our pure beeswax dinner candles or short stubbies and simply divide them, tying them into pairs with a decorative ribbon. Scented tea light candles are endlessly useful too, especially at this time of year.
A hand carved wooden porridge spoon is a quirky and versatile gift. Simple and unexpected, it will be appreciated in any kitchen.
These table favours offer a slower, more sustainable way to feel festive and celebratory. And as for missing out on cheesy cracker jokes, happily Mr M’s prowess in the bad jokes department is legendary and he keeps us entertained with the same jokes he told us last Christmas. But as my eco-conscious girls are keen to point out - at least he’s recycling!
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