Gift Owl: hand-picked surprises

Surprises – you either love them or hate them. Personally I can’t get behind the haters – to me there is nothing more exciting than planning a surprise or being on the receiving end of one, from Christmas presents to birthday treasure hunts and unexpected adventures.

So it was with delight that I was handed an envelope before Valentine’s Day this year which was a surprise in itself, as Mr Ship-Shape and I don’t ‘do’ Valentine’s in this house. I excitedly opened it to find an owl waiting for me.

Gift Owl is a gift-finding service with a twist – instead of picking out what you want, Gift Owl will put together a personalised package, wrapped in brown paper and tied up with string, full of products picked for you, based on how you fill out their quirky questionnaire.

After describing my perfect day and listing my favourite colour/book/film etc, I sent the questionnaire back and waited. This is an additional bonus of the service – due to the custom selection of gifts, packages can take around 30 days to arrive, so by the time a parcel wrapped in brown paper and tied up with string arrived, I’d completely forgotten about it!

Based on my responses, I unwrapped an illustration of a violin (my childhood instrument) printed on sheet music, a set of Mac & Ninny cupcake bookplates (for loaning out recipe books) and my favourite surprise gift, a Quote Tote that Gift Owl picked for me to ‘put your camera in for your next walk around Bristol’. The bag comes with a printed quote that can be stitched over, which is also a nod to the fact that I enjoy handsewn embroidery.

If you’re stuck for gift ideas for a friend or know someone who goes ga-ga for surprises then Gift Owl is worth checking out. They have three different price options, starting from £12.99, so they’re an affordable and quirky option.

P.S. This isn’t a sponsored post – I just really love this company’s concept!