Christmas Shop

Tree decorations, candles, incense, artisan soaps, gifts for children and pieces for the Christmas table, gathered from 19 brands.

The decorations are mostly Kiwiana: glass kiwi, kea, piwakawaka and sheep ornaments, a pavlova, a bach, a surfing Santa and a pohutukawa. The gifts run from Australian hand-poured candles and sandalwood incense through to organic cotton toys and Christmas cards. Prices start at $6.99 and most of the range sits under $25.

Several. Katy Hayward is a New Zealand artist and her kiwi, tui and fantail decorations are her own designs. Kuwi the kiwi is a New Zealand children's book character, and both the advent calendar and the bauble come from that series. Moana Road is a New Zealand brand and the Kiwiana decorations, ornaments and puzzle are designed here.

For edible gifts, Tahi pohutukawa honey comes from Northland and the Forty Thieves gingerbread cookie peanut butter is made on the Hibiscus Coast. The candles and incense are Australian: Artemis and Fazeek pour in Melbourne, and Tribe Earth press their incense in Western Australia.

Most of the shop. Around 47 of the products here are under $25, including the glass tree ornaments, the Moana Road Kiwiana decorations, single incense planks from Tribe Earth, artisan soaps and Christmas cards.

For a stocking filler, the incense planks and the glass ornaments are the easiest choices. If you want one gift to cover a household, the Tribe Earth mini sampler tins put ten tiles and eight different blends in a pocket-sized tin.

Pohutukawa flowers crimson through December, which is why it is called the New Zealand Christmas tree, and it stands in for holly and fir here.

In this collection that means pohutukawa napkins and socks from Ali Davies, pohutukawa mugs and a drink bottle from Moana Road, a Te Papa print of Sarah Featon's botanical painting, pohutukawa honey from Tahi and a pohutukawa tree decoration.

Artemis Under The Mistletoe is the closest to a cut tree indoors: fir needle, mistletoe and cedar leaf over sandalwood and vetiver, in a deep green vessel with a lid.

Artemis Festive Delight is the other direction, warm plum pudding, with lemon peel, blackcurrant, plum and nutmeg. Both are 100% soy on a wooden wick and burn about 45 hours. If you would rather give something less seasonal that gets used all year, the Fazeek Wave candles come in hand-blown rippled glass worth keeping after the wax is gone.

Trim the wood wick to about 5mm before every burn and light it along the edge rather than at one point.

Let the first burn run until the melted wax reaches the sides of the vessel, because a candle remembers its first burn and will tunnel if you cut it short. After that, burn it no more than three or four hours at a time, keep it away from draughts, and stop using it once about 1cm of wax is left.

It is an easy gift because it needs nothing else to enjoy, though a heatproof dish or burner helps. Tribe Earth make planks and tiles rather than sticks, pressed from sandalwood and resins with no bamboo core, so there is no charcoal smell underneath.

Light one corner, let the flame catch for a few seconds, blow it out and let it smoulder on a heatproof dish. Never leave it unattended, and keep it away from children, pets and anything flammable. If you are buying for someone whose taste you do not know, start with a sampler tin.

Yes. The Kiss Co organic cotton Christmas toys suit babies and toddlers, and the Kuwi Christmas advent calendar and bauble work for preschool and early primary.

For school age, the Moana Road Kiwiana Christmas puzzle is 25 x 38cm, and the Katy Hayward bird decorations are the kind of thing a child can hang on the tree each year.