Cape Town - Hopefully, you've already made a dent in your Christmas shopping.
But if, like many others, you've left it almost to the last minute or you've been waiting for your leave to start and get your head around things, you may be searching for ideas.
Here are a few ideas for your last minute dash to the shop - and some of them involve not leaving the house.
1. To market, to market
If you have the time for a Saturday outing before Christmas, make it part of your Christmas shopping and find a local market that sells tasty deli goods such as at the Biscuit Mill in Woodstock, Cape Town. Here you can find yummy jars of labneh cheese, chilli jams and honey. If you are in Johannesburg, you can try the Johannesburg Neighbourgoods Market or in the Durban area, get to the Shongweni Farmers' and Craft Market.
2. Buy a gift that gives to others
Buy beaded bracelets from 100 percent not-for-profit social enterprise Relate Bracelets. Relate bracelets are available at a range of major retailers, which means you can easily pick one up when you are doing the last dash to the shops - at the tills at Clicks you will find the Helping Hands bracelet, which supports the free clinic services for moms and babies at Clicks clinics.
At Cape Union Mart you can pick up the earthy brown bracelet which supports the Fuel2Grow Campaign, which is championed by Freshlyground as they feel passionate about feeding hungry children so that they can be the best they can be and discover creativity.
If you are flying for your holidays this year, help end paediatric Aids by purchasing the mothers2mothers bracelet at the African Origins shops at a South African Airport, or find them at the Made in SA shop at the V&A Waterfront.
3. Gift an experience
Research has shown that experiences make us happier than things do. Give a voucher as a gift - for fun outings and experiences. If you are near the Midlands in KZN, Karkloof canopy tours is a brilliant one for outdoor adventure types. Cape Town locals can gift a trip up the cable car or buy tickets to a Kirstenbosch Sundowner concert. Buy your family tickets for a visit to the Cradle of Humankind and see the Sterkfontein Caves and the Moropeng Visitors Centre.
4. Be on trend with music
Music streaming service Google Play Music launched in SA on 8 December. An unlimited Google Play Music subscription is available for an introductory price of R49,99 a month for access to local and international artists (and if you buy it before 26 January you pay the introductory price forever). Google Play Music lets you create an ad-free, interactive radio station from any songs or artists you love. You can add, remove or re-order your station and see what's coming next.
Or you can browse recommendations from Google's music team and explore songs by genre. The “Listen Now” tab puts artists and radio stations Google thinks you'll like front and centre, so you can start listening the minute you open your library. Google Play Music also lets you combine its collection with your own collection. You can store 50 000 songs for free online, and listen to them alongside the All Access catalogue. You can even “pin” specific albums and playlists songs, so they're available when you're offline. Available for Android and iOS devices, Google is offering a free trial for new users to test the service out - sign up via play.google.com/music.
5. Be proudly South African with the Cape Town edition of Monopoly
The Cape Town version of this family favourite board game launched only a month ago, so it will be a great addition to your arsenal of family entertainment for the holidays.
IOL, adapted from a press release
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