The third week is for ordering the posted gifts. This is the single most useful thing on the checklist. Ordering mid-November, well ahead of the courier crush, means your gifts travel while the network is quiet and arrive with room to spare. Chocolate keeps, so early delivery is a feature rather than a risk.
The first thing to know is that chocolate is a well-behaved thing to post. It keeps, it is not fragile in the way glass is, and a boxed assortment is built to hold its shape in transit. Individually wrapped pieces travel particularly well, since each one is protected inside the box. The main enemy is heat rather than handling, which is rarely an issue in a British or Irish winter and manageable at other times of year with sensible timing.
The making sits behind all of this. These share bag chocolates are handcrafted in Newbridge, Co. Kildare, where Mary Ann O'Brien started the company in 1992, and a boxed selection is put together to survive the journey and arrive looking as it should.
January does not have an obvious gifting occasion built into it the way November and December do, which is exactly why it gets overlooked as a moment to say thank you for the year that has just finished. A New Year thank you gift, sent to a client, a colleague, or simply someone who helped out over the previous twelve months, works well precisely because it is not expected, and does not carry the pressure or competition that surrounds Christmas gifting.
For personal thank yous, the same logic applies. Someone who helped with a house move in October, a neighbour who kept an eye on things over a long break, a friend who supported you through a difficult stretch of the year, none of these fit neatly into the existing gifting calendar, and a January thank you fills that gap naturally rather than waiting for the next occasion to come round.
The fourth week is for the gifts you are giving in person. Buy them now, store them somewhere cool and dark, and they are ready whenever the diary throws up an occasion. This is also the moment to write cards while you still have the patience for it.
The first thing to know is that chocolate is a well-behaved thing to post. It keeps, it is not fragile in the way glass is, and a boxed assortment is built to hold its shape in transit. Individually wrapped pieces travel particularly well, since each one is protected inside the box. The main enemy is heat rather than handling, which is rarely an issue in a British or Irish winter and manageable at other times of year with sensible timing.
The making sits behind all of this. These share bag chocolates are handcrafted in Newbridge, Co. Kildare, where Mary Ann O'Brien started the company in 1992, and a boxed selection is put together to survive the journey and arrive looking as it should.
January does not have an obvious gifting occasion built into it the way November and December do, which is exactly why it gets overlooked as a moment to say thank you for the year that has just finished. A New Year thank you gift, sent to a client, a colleague, or simply someone who helped out over the previous twelve months, works well precisely because it is not expected, and does not carry the pressure or competition that surrounds Christmas gifting.
For personal thank yous, the same logic applies. Someone who helped with a house move in October, a neighbour who kept an eye on things over a long break, a friend who supported you through a difficult stretch of the year, none of these fit neatly into the existing gifting calendar, and a January thank you fills that gap naturally rather than waiting for the next occasion to come round.
The fourth week is for the gifts you are giving in person. Buy them now, store them somewhere cool and dark, and they are ready whenever the diary throws up an occasion. This is also the moment to write cards while you still have the patience for it.