Our favourite is the Super Mum Cookie Gram which makes a lovely iced gingerbread treat for Mother’s Day or a birthday and is well within most budgets at just £5.99 which includes UK delivery. There are plenty more gifts to choose from though…

You can get a selection of cookies, muffins and florentines beautifully wrapped and presented depending on your budget, but all of them are under £20 and include free UK delivery, gift box and a greetings card of your choosing containing your personal message. What an unbeatable deal!

See the range of Mother’s Day Gifts at Message Muffins and then try and choose which one to get!

Even better news is that you could win one for free to give as a christmas gift.

The spoof front page can be created in seconds by choosing from a combination of headlines, categories and paper styles.

Then just upload a photo of your choice and ta dah! – your personalised spoof paper is born. You then get to see a preview and make any changes before placing your order.

Just sign up to the best UK Freebie site before Wednesday 20th September for your chance of winning this great prize.

You’ll also receive their regular Free Offers Alerts that feature the best freebies available online such as Free Makeup.

Even if you don’t win why not buy one as a christmas or birthday present from Making the News for just £9.99.

The Sshcakes.co.uk company have created their own individual angel cakes covered with a lemon, vanilla or chocolate butter icing.

Decorated by hand and individually giftwrapped, each Wishh Cake comes with a card, candle and edible iced ‘Wishing Wand’ to make birthday wishes come true.

Win one by joining the Free Offers Alert list at Freebie Bag.

These delicious cakes are too good to be true and are a novel way to send someone a birthday greeting – it sure beats getting a birthday card!

Just sign up to Freebie Bag Free Offers Alerts before 6th June 2010 and you’ll have automatic entry into the draw. (Don’t worry, you can unsubscribe at anytime).

Freebie Bag will choose one winner at random who’ll get a Wishh Cake in a flavour of their choice; lemon, vanilla or chocolate.

Competition Rules

• The closing date is Sunday 6th June 2010.
• All entries must reach us by 23:59 (11:59pm) on the closing date.
• One winner will be chosen at random
• The winner will receive one Wishh Cake.
• The competition applicant may only enter once.
• The competition is open to UK residents only.
• No employees of Gift Chooser, Freebie Bag or Shh Cakes may enter.
• The judges decision is final.
• Prizes may not be exchanged for cash or other goods.

In days where we often entertain at home, or at least drink more at home than we ever used to (it’s often cheaper than visiting the pub!) a wine rack seems to be something that everyone needs.

It’s always handy having a bottle of the grape juice to hand in case of unexpected visitors or a bottle of bubbly for those surprise celebrations.

However, combine that fact with the size of houses, flats and rooms nowadays as they become smaller and smaller, then finding gifts that can fit into a home is just as important as finding a gift someone likes. After all if there is no room for it, it’ll get relegated to the loft or become someone else’s present next year!

This stylish wine rack is just the ticket I reckon. It’s sleek, shiny, functional and is designed to be fixed to the wall – a brilliant space saving gift! It can hold 8 bottles of wine – more than enough for an evenings entertaining.

Not only will this idea make a brilliant christmas present but it’s a great gift idea for a wedding present or someone just moving into their new home.

Buy this nifty device as a christmas gift for someone this year for just £24.95. And if you have a bit more budget why not stretch to a nice bottle of wine to go with it!

Get the Flow Wine Rack from PrezzyBox for £24.95.

Yummy competition for those with a sweet tooth courtesy of MessageMuffins.com

Message Muffins have a mission in the world – to make life scrummier for everyone. And to spread the word and get everyone trying out these delicious delicacies, they are offering you a chance to win a box of tempting treats.

We are looking for people on the search for an unusual gift idea; those that are hard to buy for, families and even workplaces to have a go at winning one of the 4 gift boxes up for grabs.

All you have to do to enter is email the answer to an easy peasy question:

Step 1 – Answer this simple question

How many muffins does the Family Gift Box contain?
(hint – you may be able to find the answer right here!)

This Competition has now ended but you will find more on our GiftChooser Competitions page.

Message Muffins gift to you

These competition treats are enough to make your mouth water – I should know as I had the pleasure of experiencing one.

The Corporate Muffin Gift Box

Worth £32.99, this box contains a variety of 12 moist muffins.

They will be delivered directly to the winners place of work for the whole office to enjoy.

The Corporate Cookie Gift Box

Worth £29.99, this gift box contains a variety of 16 delicious cookies.

They will be delivered to the winners place of work for the entire office to enjoy.

The Family Gift Box

This gift box is worth £18.99 and is filled with 6 different muffins so the whole family gets to enjoy one or two…

The Childrens Christmas Feast Cookie Box

Worth £18.99, this gift box contains a range of our favourite Iced Christmas Gingerbread Cookies – a real treat for the kids.

Enter today to be in with a chance to win!

About Message Muffins

This edible greeting service provides little packages of muffins, cookies & sweeties for loved ones, couples, family and friends. A delightfully unusual way to say Merry Christmas, Congratulations or Happy Birthday.

Each order is beautifully hand packed with loving care and comes with a handwritten card bearing your personal message. What a way to treat someone! Visit www.messagemuffins.com to see their range of goodies.

Step 2 – Sign up for our FREE newsletter

(Don’t worry, you can unsubscribe at anytime)

Competition Rules

• The closing date is Sunday 23rd November 2008.
• All entries must reach us by 23:59 (11:59pm) on the closing date.
• Four winners will be chosen at random from the correct entries.
• The winners will receive a a giftbox of Message Muffins or Message Cookies.
• The competition applicant may only enter once.
• The competition is open to UK residents only.
• All entrants email addresses will be added to the Gift Chooser and Message Muffins newsletter list. If you do not wish for it to be added, please tell us in your email.
• No employees of Gift Chooser or Message Muffins may enter.
• The judges decision is final.
• Prizes may not be exchanged for cash or other goods.

Me to You Bears are those adorable tatty looking teddy bears that adorn cards and merchandise. I’m sure you’ve seen them – they’re probably the only grey bears you’ll find with a blue nose and patches.

Despite the soppy factor, they do make lovely presents for weddings, christenings and birthdays.

The Me to You Bear gift shop is a great place to browse for gifts The sell the cutesy gifts that mums, grandma’s, sisters and best friends love to receive.

Having several Christenings coming up I have been on the look out for suitable gift ideas for such an occasion.

The ’Congratulations’ Teddy is just £8.50 however this Me to You Bear Christening set has caught my eye.

It comes complete with a collectable Tatty Teddy bear and a bone china mug and bowl set for when the little tyke grows up.

Cute and collectable – what more do you need from a Christening gift?

This Christening Bear, Mug and Bowl collection will set you back £24 from Me to You Online

Read the Me To You Bear story

Free Teddy Bears

Get free teddy bears at http://freebiebag.co.uk to make buying birthday and christmas gifts even cheaper.

My new website of the week is Bizzy Balloons. The name for this online shop says it all – a one stop balloon shop, busy with ideas for presents to suit plenty of occasions.

If you find you are stuck for a gift idea to congratulate somebody on passing their driving test or celebrating your nephews christening, a balloon gift isn’t as silly as it sounds – in fact they are really rather fun!

My balloon of choice would have to be the singing musical balloons like this Happy Birthday musical balloon set for £29.

You can just imagine the look of surprise on peoples faces – slightly less embarrassing than a singing telegram, especially if it arrives whilst you’re at work!

The best thing about the Bizzy Balloon site is that you can now get a talking tag to add to your balloon gift for only £4.99.

How does it work?

Simply add the tag to your shopping basket and you will be emailed a telephone number to call. You can then record a 60 second message which will be tied to your balloon. I think it’s much more personalised and unique than writing on a tag.

These Talking Tags are also going to be available at our favourite online card shop Moonpig.com soon too!

The thing with sending a balloons is that you can add a host of other bits and bobs along with it. Flowers, teddy bears and mini cakes to name a few.

I love the fact that you get Free UK Delivery with your order and if that wasn’t enough you even get a box of chocolates thrown in for free!

What are you waiting for? Get visiting Bizzy Balloons for gift ideas right away.

There seems to be a day for everybody and every profession nowadays, and whilst it’s not something I would particularly celebrate (not being a nurse myself), Nurse’s Day is celebrated this year on the 12th May. Which just so happens to be Florence Nightingale’s birthday – one of the most famous nurses in the world.

So if you have a friend or relative who is a hard working nurse, or even if you have been in hospital yourself recently and want to say ’Thank You’, then what better way than to send a card or a bunch of flowers on Nurse’s Day.

About Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale was born in 1890 and is famous as ’the lady with the lamp’ and for her role in improving the conditions and hygiene during the Crimean war. She spent the rest of her life dedicating herself to training nurses and teaching.

Nurse’s Day sees the hundreds and thousands of nurses, carers and healthcare assistants that have dedicated their lives to helping other people, celebrate across the world. Each year on 12th May a service is held in Westminster Abbey, London.

Then at St Margaret’s Church at East Wellow, Hampshire, where Florence Nightingale is buried, a service is also held on the Sunday after her birthday.

It’s an opportunity to send a nice card from somewhere like Blue Mountain, the only place I have found online that have a selection of greeting cards specifically for celebrating Nurse’s Day.

Or how about some beautiful spring flowers from Serenata Flowers, like this gorgeous Tequila Sunrise bouquet

Buy from Serenata Flowers for £37.99

Hope you received your card and have finalised your preparations for a massive St George’s Day party!

It is coming up to St George’s Day on 23rd April, and whilst it’s not an obvious choice for buying gifts for people, it’s definitely becoming more common for people to send St George’s Day cards.

Plenty of sites are now offering cards to celebrate our national day. Card sites such as Moonpig.com and cards ’n’ scrolls.

We are beginning to feel a bit more pride about our nation and heritage – so much so there is even a campaign to make St George’s day a National holiday. Many people would love this as it means an extra day off work – however it’s also a good reason to celebrate too!

If you know of someone whose birthday is on 23rd April, maybe you could get them a themed gift such as a day out at a castle.

Enjoy a splendid day having afternoon tea for two and exploring Windsor Castle

Buy this gift experience from LastMinute.com for £59

or

this Personalised door plaque featuring a pretty pink fairytale castle on it.

Buy from Not On The High Street for £30

George and the Dragon

The real St George was known for his bravery and courage and over the centuries many stories were passed down. The most famous being about St George slaying the nasty Dragon that was terrorising a town. In the process he slayed the dragon, rescued the Princess and became a hero.

Did you know?

• We have to share St George? He’s not only England’s patron but on different days of the year he is the saint of Catalonia, Lithuania and Portugal and other european and middle eastern countries.
• St George is patron saint to a variety of professions including soldiers, archers, farmers, riders and scouts as well as helping those suffering from leprosy, plague and syphilis.
• The George and the Dragon legend is probably just a myth.

St George is a busy man!

Read more about hosting a St George’s Day Party

As spring is just around the corner, we find weddings coming out of our ears. Spring and Summer is obviously the most popular time of year to get hitched.

Confetti – a brilliant name for an online wedding shop. This one stop shop for wedding ideas, gifts and decorations has everything to make a wedding day extra special.

Buying wedding gifts for the bride and groom has evolved from the traditional dowry idea. So instead of the bride’s father giving money to his daughters future family, it is now spread out amongst close family and friends.

Often the bride and groom will have a wedding list of items they have chosen for their new home together. Sometimes though you will find some couples will leave it up to their guests to choose what gift to buy them. Whilst this can involve a bit of thought on the guests part, it’s also nice to be able to buy something personal and extra special for the happy couple.

Most engaged couples already live together, so by the time they marry they don’t need that iron, kettle or toaster that used to be a regular sight on the wedding table. So, that takes out the need to buy boring presents.

Ideas for wedding gifts can include giving gift experiences such as a helicopter ride during their honeymoon in New York or a balloon flight over the Cotswolds countryside. This is something that they will remember forever.

Other popular gift ideas can involve buying virtual gifts charity for a specific charity or donating money to a cause close to the wedding couples heart.

Food, wine and luxury goodies are always appreciated as presents, whatever the occasion and I think Weddings are no exception. Especially if it is a vintage bottle of wine that they can keep for the future, or a set of crystal wine glasses that they wouldn’t necessarily buy for themselves.

Personalised gifts are also a novel gift idea for wedding day presents. They can be humourous, collectable or unique such as a painting or caricature of the happy bride and groom, matching pyjamas with Mr and Mrs printed on or an engraved photo frame.

It doesn’t matter what your budget is. You can buy beautiful and memorable gifts to suit all pockets. But whatever you end up buying, just make sure it’s specific to the couple you are buying for. That way they will get the maximum enjoyment out of your gift – something they will never forget.

Discount Codes for Confetti

At Web Savings World you can find Confetti promotional voucher codes

It’s strange how well known St Patrick’s Day is all over the world, but how little known St George’s Day is in England. St George’s Day falls on the 23rd April, and with St George being our patron saint, St George’s Day is classed a England’s National day.

There is a big campaign rolling around the UK at the moment to make it more recognised – and for it to even become a public holiday. Whilst not traditionally a day to give gifts, it is becoming more popular to send cards and hold St George’s Day parties.

So just who was this St George bloke?

St George was actually born in Turkey during the 3rd century. His family were Christians and after joining the Roman Army, tales of his bravery were widespread. He came to England on an important mission, but soon returned to Rome to stop his fellow Christians from being executed by the emperor of the time. He refused to renounce his faith and was also beheaded along with the others on 23rd April, in the year 303.

Celebrations

It was in 1222 that the Oxford Council replaced the current Patron Saint of England (Edward the Confessor) with St George, and April 23rd of each year became a national holiday and much feasting was enjoyed. Nowadays it’s not such a grand affair, although there are many attempts to get it that way, and a lot of people are now busy arranging events and parties to celebrate England’s National Day.

If you are planning a St George’s Day party, or know someone whose birthday on on this day, you’ll need a place where you can get all your party costumes and accessories from.

Party Decorations

PartyBox.co.uk can provide all you need to decorate your St George’s Day party venue such as bunting, balloons, streamers, hand-held flags and all your party bags and tableware. And no party is complete without a large St George’s Day flag.

Buy it for £6.74 from PartyBox.co.uk

Party Costumes

Get all your St George’s Day costumes and accessories from PartyDomain.co.uk, where you can get an assortment of comedy wigs, face paints, fake moustaches and hats all in the traditional red and white colours.

This red and white comedy wig is just £4.99 from PartyDomain.co.uk

Have a great St George’s Day party!

There is a real boom in personalised gifts at the minute. I think they are a brill idea and aside from making a gift with your own fair hands – it shows you have gone to some lengths to find a gift that is a little bit different, but that reflects them completely.

Whenever I am buying gifts for my family and friends, generally anything alcohol related goes down well and so i have discovered the best site for combining a present that contains alcohol and is personalised. Lo and behold my saviours, The Personalised Drinks Company.

In 4 easy steps you could create a unique present for your dad, uncle, husband or friend. They also make brilliant celebration presents or leaving presents if someone you know is retiring.

The process is easy:

• Choose what drink you want: Beer, Wine or Champagne
• Choose a name for it: Such as Debbie’s Drink or Pete’s Potent Potion
• Tell us who the drink is for and what occasion it is: For example Steven’s Birthday or Kate and Jim’s Wedding day
• Select a picture to go on the label and upload it to the website

You can buy single wine bottles like this bottle of red wine in a gift box for £15

Or even a case of beer for £32.50

What I like is that you can enjoy the contents, but still keep the bottle and it’s special label as a memento.

Visit www.personaldrinks.co.uk and get ready to create your gift.

The next date on the calendar to be aware of is April Fool’s Day. Not a common time to send gifts and cards, but none-the-less, there are bound to be a few pranks and practical jokes going about.

It is a common time to read some strange tales in newspapers, or hear bizarre news on the TV or radio.

Remember the Spaghetti incident of 1958? When a documentary went out about Spaghetti trees, which hundreds of viewers fell for. It’s worth remembering not to believe everything you hear, see or read on 1st April – although don’t rule everything out either, especially if you get a pay rise!

Other pranks include fake phone calls, dressing up, talking about a non-existent products such as left handed screwdrivers.

The purpose of April Fool’s Day

The aim is to play a joke on someone or a group of people, and have them fall for it hook, line and sinker – but there is a catch, it must be before midday.

The origins of April Fool’s Day

Takes place each year on the 1st day of April. There are mixed ideas about its origin. Some think it started when we began using the Gregorian calendar in the 16th century, as 1st April used to be the official start of the Julian New Year and those against the change continued celebrating on 1st April with tomfoolery and joke gifts. However there are also mythological, spiritual and medieval origin theories too.

One website that offers all kinds of joke gifts and tomfoolery is Hawkin’s Baazar.

Buy this Joke a Day desk block for £7.99 – and enjoy a giggle every day of the week.

Or this Joke Book covering every topic you can imagine – give your family and friends something to make them chuckle at for £7.99 from Hawkin.com

How about setting up work colleagues with this Prank Message book for just £3.99

Or if you know someone whose birthday is on April Fools Day (or close to it) these fun Joke Candles for £2.99 announcing the birthday boy or girl has ’Lost count’ makes a fun gift.

Watch out you don’t get fooled this year!

Discount Codes for Hawkin’s Bazaar

At Web Savings World you can find Hawkin’s Bazaar voucher codes

The choices we make each day just get harder and harder, because we end up being offered so many varieties to choose from.

It’s no different with Easter Eggs, this year we seem to be inundated with so many types to choose from. What happened to the days where it was either milk or dark?

No matter, more choice is better than no choice at all, and we really seem to be spoilt for choice with the treats that are lined up in stores for us this Easter time. From white, milk and dark chocolate, to Fairtrade, organic, lactose-free. Chocolate flavoured with coconut, berries, fruit and nut, early grey, bergamot and cognac and not to mention all the hand-made, luxurious and downright expensive ones!

Better get your skates on, as Easter falls earlier than usual – mark it on your calendar, Sunday March 23rd 2008.

Cheap and Cheerful Eggs

The high street shops have a colourful range of all our usual chocolate treats. Old favourites such as creme eggs, buttons and milky bar are still going strong. You can purchase these foil wrapped eggs in a variety of sizes from shops such as Cadburys, Thorntons, Marks and Spencer and any supermarket chain e.g. Sainsbury’s. Thorntons even do a personalised icing service where you can get your message iced onto one of their eggs and are still one of the few companies to produce a diabetic easter egg. Expect to may anything from £1 to £10.

Posher Easter Eggs

Slightly more upmarket and you get the chocolate Easter Eggs that may cost a little more, but that is usually because they are better quality, or are not mass produced. Getting your Easter Egg from an independent shop will mean you get something a bit more unique that your bog standard flake egg. It may have nicer packaging, a better quality of chocolate may have been used, or it may be organic, fairtrade or suitable for vegans. Online shops such as UK Organics, Ethical Superstore, Chococo and Hotel Chocolat. Expect to pay anything from £5 to £20.

Luxury Chocolate Eggs

You are one lucky person if you receive anything from this range. Perfect for those with a taste for ’real chocolate’, and not the synthetic chocolate many people have grown accustomed to. This is proper chocolate, the way it was supposed to be made with 70% cocoa, elegant packaging and maybe even a mixture of flavours. How about buying something from the chocolate emporium, Prestat, chocolate purveyors to the Queen who do a delicious white chocolate and banoffee egg, Charbonnel et Walker and Melt Chocolates.

Prices will range from £15 and upwards. Some limited edition solid eggs are being sold in excess of £500!

Have a nosy at our The 20 Best Easter Eggs article

Discount Codes for Thorntons

At Web Savings World you can find Thorntons promotional codes

Are you fed up of chocolates? Christmas was only 10 weeks away and I am still working off the tins of Quality Street and After Eights! I am sure most other people feel the same way, but are just too polite to say it. So why not buy some non-chocolate gifts this Easter instead?

Read on to see my hand-picked selection

Remote Control Rubber Duck

Rubber ducks. What were they all about? Yellow rubber ducks that bobbed about in your bath a bit whilst you washed your hair – never very interesting, but now things are about to get very interesting.

The remote controlled duck has arrived. He’s still yellow and still rubbery, but now you can finally get him to do something. Drive him around your bath at super speeds, get him to do dazzling u-turns and tricky manoeuvres, all with the twiddle of a knob.

Create some splash action in the bath. Oh and he also reminds us that it’s Easter.

Buy for £12.99 from Play.com

Hatchable Chicken

Whenever you fancy a giggle, this clockwork egg can be wound up until it can be wound no more. Then sit back and watch as the egg splits in 2 and out pops a cute, cartoon style chick who proceeds to waddle off into the distant sunset.

He doesn’t do much else, but he is fun to watch and makes a great little present for somebody this Easter instead of an Easter Egg.

Buy this cute chicken for £4.99 from Hawkin’s Bazaar

Egg Cup Timer

Those brilliant people at Suck UK (the guys that brought you Sun Jar) have come up with another ingenious invention. An Egg Timer that also doubles up as a stylish Egg cup. The yellow sand will time your egg cooking to perfection, whilst the clear holder will hold your egg like a work of art and ready for you to eat.

What better way to spend Easter Sunday morning, than having real eggs for breakfast – eggs that haven’t been overcooked by 5 minutes. A brilliant non-chocolate easter gift idea. Unfortunately eggs are not included.

Buy the Suck UK Egg Cup Timer from Find Me A Gift for £14.99

Towelling Rabbit

Easter is also associated with Easter bunnies and this cute rabbit made from natural towelling is an adorable gift for a baby or little nipper.

The rabbit is clutching onto a Doudou, and I can’t quite figure out what this is. I think it’s something your baby can grip onto, kind of like a security blanket.

It comes complete in a gift box for £7.95 from Amazon.co.uk

Or if you fancy having an Ethical Easter this year, why not look at our Alternative Easter Gifts guide

If you must buy a chocolate egg this year why not have a look at our article The Best 20 Easter Eggs for 2008

Discount Codes for Play.com

At Web Savings World you can find Play.com promotional codes

Easter is one of those strange times of year that falls in a different place each year, known as a movable feast. It doesn’t seem to follow the gregorian calendar, but the lunisolar one instead.

It is a Christian religious festival and falls on a sunday, 40 days after the start of Lent – the fasting season.

The name Easter is most likely derived from the germanic word Eostre, the name of a german goddess. Easter Eggs are thought to have originally been a pagan symbol used because they symbolise fertility, growth and birth, as a chick hatches from an egg.

Eggs have continued to be a popular symbol for Easter, and chocolate Easter Eggs were created in the 1800’s and became popular in the 19th century in Germany and France, and then found their way across other parts of Europe and other parts of the world.

Easter traditions and rituals include the painting of empty egg shells (getting them empty is the fun part!), hand-painted wooden eggs and decorated trees in parts of Europe, decorating eggs with paint, ribbons and other trimmings. Easter eggs hunts are also common pastimes for children over the Easter holiday period, you can even get special Easter eggs for the visually impaired and blind children that still want to enjoy Easter egg hunts. These eggs emit a noise to make them easy to find.

Easter has certainly become more commercialised, especially with the creation of the Easter Bunny and chocolate Easter eggs. Most people nowadays associate chocolate with Easter, probably because that is the one item that most people ’give up’ for 40 days during Lent. Yet despite Easter being an odd mix of a variety of cultures, religions and commercial influences, the Easter Egg is still the one common theme that joins them all.

Read our article on the Best 20 Easter Eggs for 2008

Or if you fancy buying something a bit different for Easter this year, why not look at our Alternative Easter Gifts guide

Last year we indulged in over 80 million chocolate easter eggs. The total cost came to around £336 million.

Just think what could be achieved if we spent just half of this on chocolate eggs, and the other half on an alternative to the sugary sweets and chocolates that have become associated with Easter.

As with many times of the year, people are thinking more and more about how their gifts affect people and the world around us, and this is affecting what people are starting to buy for others.

It’s not just the amount of chocolate we get through or the money we spend (which is estimated to be about £520 million), but also the amount of packaging we throw away as a result. Over 4,500 tonnes of cardboard boxes and foil wrapping were chucked away after last Easter, making a harsh impact on our environment too.

Most of the money we spend on Easter eggs goes on the packaging, so make your hard-earned dosh go further than just buying some cheap foil wrapped chocolate, make your money do some good too!

Buy a virtual egg

For just £24 you can buy a hundred eggs. How? By providing a village in Bangladesh with ducks. Ducks can be sold at market, will provide a family with fresh eggs to eat and sell to provide an income, especially after the recent floods which devastated certain areas.

Buy ducks for £24 from Present Aid and provide a real Easter Egg

Buy a Green Easter Gift

Offset your carbon footprint and that of others, by giving a tree as an Easter gift. This wild Cherry Tree will bloom with pretty pink or white blossoms when spring arrives It’ll last for years and produce lots of lovely red berries for the birdies, as well as using up all our carbon dioxide!

Buy a Cherry Tree from Ethical Superstore for £35.00

Buy a practical Easter gift

At Easter, eggs are used to symbolise re-birth and fertility. Ok so you can’t grow eggs, but what about this practical gift? Seeds for farmers in Zambia will ensure local families get a good crop of fresh vegetables to last them the whole year.

Buy them for £18 from Practical Presents

Buy Fairtrade Eggs

If you must buy a chocolate egg, why not make sure it is a Fairtrade one, to ensure the workers who have slaved over it get a fair pay deal to support themselves and their families.

Divine do a fabulous range of Fairtrade Easter Eggs at Ethical Superstore, so how about this pack of delicious sugar coated, speckled mini eggs. Not only are they fairtrade, but they have minimal packaging too!

Only £1.49 from Ethical Superstore

Happy Ethical Easter!

Chocolate Easter Eggs are now the most popular way to celebrate Easter. There is such a huge variety of different chocolate it can make it hard to choose which ones to go for.

Do you choose from creamy white chocolate, smooth milk or divine dark. The choice doesn’t stop there though. Now you can get handmade chocolate, fairtrade chocolate eggs, not to mention organic, lactose-free and vegan. In fact chocolate eggs to cater for any food intolerance or preference.

This year packaging is getting classier too. Traditional hand-painted wooden eggs, batik boxes, golden boxes, corrugated egg boxes and even limited editions from top class retailers. Just something a bit different from the tacky gold and red foil of yesteryear – 2008 has gone a bit ’haute couture’ for Easter eggs.

So will you choose from the mass produced high street shop style egg or will you opt for a better quality egg from the higher end of the market? The Times has compiled a list of their Top 20 Chocolate Easter Eggs for 2008. Which ones will you choose?

1. Fairtrade and Divine for 4.99 – Divine Milk Chocolate Easter Egg

2. Sweet but scrummy – Tesco White Chocolate Crème Brulee Easter Egg for 4.99

3. Large egg with nuts and raisins added – Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Fruit and Nut Belgian Milk Chocolate Egg for 6.99

4. Chocolate egg with a touch of Vodka – Rococo White Chocolate Easter Egg for £8.95

5. Perfect for vegans and lactose free but not taste free – Moo Free Chocolates Organic Vegan & Dairy Free Dark Easter Egg for £8.99

6. Winning combo of milk chocolate and bergamot – The Chocolate Empire Handmade Organic Earl Grey Easter Egg for £10

7. Organic chocolate in egg form – Green and Blacks Milk Egg with Miniature Chocolate Bars for £10.99

8. Delicious and nutty milk chocolate egg – Chocolate Alchemist Milk Chocolate Nut Jewelled Egg for £14.50

9. Rich and Dark for those that like chocolate strong – James Chocolates Single Origin Ecuador Dark Chocolate Egg for £15

10. Organic and with a ginger kick and perfectly packaged – Booja Booja Large Ginger Wine Truffle Egg fro £18.99

11. Organic chocolate egg, beautifully packaged – L’Artisan du Chocolat Eco Chick Egg for £18.99

12. Dark and dangerous and flecked with gold & silver leaf – Oeuf Orfevre, Dark Chocolate Easter Egg for £18.99

13. Delicious milk chocolate egg with truffles – Prestat Marc De Champagne Easter Egg for £22

14. Three dark and delicious eggs from different origins – Fortnum & Mason Three Excellent Eggs for £22.50

15. The Queen’s favourite with rose and violet creams – Charbonnel et Walker Rose and Violet Plain Chocolate Egg for £25

16. For true chocolate connoiseurs – William Curley Amedei Chocolate Egg filled with House Dark Truffles from £25-£50

17. Close to a kilo of chocolate – The Eggsibitionist Extra Large Chocolate Easter Egg for £46

18. A real designer egg – Giorgio Armani Dolci Easter Egg From €60

19. A Haute Couture chocolatier and a price to match – Paul A Young Bespoke Easter Egg for £95

20. The stuff of dreams, limited edition solid egg – Maison du Chocolat Oeuf Tresor for £550

Read the article 20 Best Chocolate Easter Eggs at Times Online

St Patrick is well known as the Patron Saint of Ireland. Come the 17th of March thousands of people all over the world, whether Irish or not, celebrate St Patrick’s Day in style. Usually with lots of dressing up and plenty of drinking.

However, this year St Patrick’s Day has been moved to the 15th March, to avoid falling on the holy Easter week, with Easter being so incredibly early this year.

Who was St Patrick?

Saint Patrick, born around the 4th century, became a missionary who is believed to have brought Christianity to Ireland.

For some reason he was taken by Irish raiders and kept as a slave for six years, before being released and returning to his family. It was only when he was released that he joined the church, working as a missionary to convert the locals to Christianity. He later died in Ireland (supposedly on 17th March) and this day has been known as St Patrick’s Day ever since.

It is a traditional day for missionaries to offer prayers to provide spiritual renewal, but many revellers just tend to dress up, drink lots and have fun.

The colours Green and Gold are synonymous of St Paddy’s Day, as are other traditionally irish symbols such as the shamrock (which means little clover) and Guinness!

Getting dressed up to celebrate?

It doesn’t cost a fortune to create an impact. How about this cheap and cheerful St Patrick’s Day Top Hat

Just £3.99 from ChickenShop Fancy Dress

Or these fun and frivolous Shamrock Head Boppers for £1.99

If you are having a St Patrick’s Day themed party, make sure you get all your decorations to spruce up your venue. Find shamrock cut outs, banners and balloons, leprechauns, confetti and all your party tableware in the traditional Irish colours green, white, orange and gold.

How about this St Patrick’s Day Decorating Kit to make your celebrations go with a swing

for just £7.75 from PartyBox

Happy St Patrick’s Day. Sláinte!