Got a Gemini's birthday coming up? Then how about turning to the stars for gift inspiration?!

First of all, a bit about Gemini...

Gemini - The Twins - runs from 21 May to 20 June.

What are they like? Well, fickle Geminis are lively and entertaining, but easily bored and can change mood in a moment. Relentless talkers, they love gossiping and channel their energy into numerous activities at once, tending to flit between them as boredom strikes. Their defining aspect is "I think".

Summary keywords: Communicators, Moody, Fickle, Lively, Entertaining, Talk, Chat, Gossip, Witty, Funny, Flit, Chatty.

What gift to buy Gemini then?

You can appeal to their witty/ funny side, by choosing a humorous gift here

They like to entertain, so how about dinner party accessories or a party game?

As big talkers, you could always buy them a phone or a drink to wet their throats, or perhaps something to drink out of?!

If she's loves gossip, how about a subscription to Closer or Heat magazine?

Maybe a few ideas...

Handcrafted Necklace by Felicity Gail that won this year's Hand-making Heroes

Felicity Gail jewellery has won this year's Hand-making Heroes New Handmade Gift Competition.  Short-listed by the judges in February, along with 7 other entries of handmade gifts,  Felicity Gail 's Silver, Onyx and Jade Handcrafted Necklace won the online vote here at pressies4princesses.

Voting took place through March and April, and well over 2000 valid votes were cast. In the end, Felicity Gail's handmade necklace pipped Steph Littlechild's handcrafted collage portraits to the post in what became a two contestant race.

Steph Littlechild's Personalised Portraits in a Fabric Collage

Felicity Gail is the brand name under which Jackie Durrans and Debbie Brenner produce and sell their design-led handmade jewellery. Their jewellery is inspired by modern design, taking style clues from modern art sculpture and furniture. The striking handcrafted jewellery that results is sold at all the Tate galleries. In fact, the Tate has commissioned this talented duo to craft jewellery for several exhibitions, including Oiticica, Millais and Klimt.

As winners, Jackie and Debbie will receive £500 to invest in their hand-making business, as well as the opportunity to supply pressies4princesses with their exciting handcrafted jewellery - to the tune of at least £1000. We are looking forward to bringing some fantastic products from their range to you soon.

Handmaking Heroes was conceived to encourage and support UK hand-making enterprise in the UK. All UK designer/hand-makers were elligible to enter a handmade gift. Currently, over 25% of the gift range here at pressies4princesses is made by hand in the UK. UK hand-making is something everybody here at pressies' is passionate about - so much so that we're going to run Hand-making Heroes again next year, only bigger and better! Anyone, thinking of entering should keep an eye on my free business advice for hand-makers blog at pretty-somethings.co.uk for details.

Giving gifts could be seen as an unnecessary environmental expense. Gifts, after all, are hardly essential purchases. But, concerns over the planet needn't stop you giving. You can be a eco-friendly and still be a good friend (or son or mother or aunt or daughter for that matter).  By following these simple tips, you can minimise the environmental impact your gift giving has - and still leave the lucky recipient feeling overjoyed!

1. Choose 'Useful' Gifts

Gifts don't have to be utterly pointless. To be eco-friendly, you should avoid any that are. A gift that goes straight into a dusty cupboard or the bin, is a waste of the earth resources.

2. Choose Gifts Wisely

Buy something that is not appreciated and it is either going to be returned (if you are lucky), binned or shoved in a drawer. And that means that the negative environmental impact of producing it, is not offset by any positive  outcome - like use and enjoyment.

3. Go for Recycled or Recyclable Gifts

The best choice would be made from recycled materials and can be recycled again. Next best is something made from recycled materials - unless the recipient to recycles religiously. Finally, something that can be recycled is better than landfill fodder.

Natural materials can have a positive impact upon the environment during growth

4. Pick Gifts Made From Natural Materials

The production of man-made materials generally consume resources and lots of energy. But, a natural material like wood or leather often has a positive impact upon the environment. Trees, for example, consume CO2 - a greenhouse gas - during growth. Using trees as a resource places an economic value on forests which ensures there survival and management for sustainability.

5. Choose Locally Produced Gifts

Shipping goods across the seas from China and India has a major environmental impact. Local production reduces this transporation impact.

Handmade gifts are often produced using more eco-friendly methods

6. Choose Handmade Gifts

Handmade gifts are generally produced using more eco-friendly processes. While, human power is cleaner than machine. Likewise, handmade gifts often use fewer plastics and other man-made materials and more naturally produced ones.

7. Buy Your Gifts Online

This is more efficient than going out to the shops, because it saves on transport emissions and reduces congestion. Your parcel travels with hundreds or thousands of others through out its journey, reducing the environmental cost per parcel. And, a website consumes far less energy than heating or cooling and lighting retail space. While mail order storage and distribution facilities are largely unheated or cooled and are more efficient due to economies of scale.  The constant re-fitting and merchandising of shops consumes real resources. Whereas, the virtual space of a website is redesigned by shifting pixels on your screen. Finally, the web is on demand - switch your pc off and you've stopped consuming resources. But, shops have to be maintained and powered even when there are no customers.

8. Use Eco-friendly Gift Wrap

Gift wrap is a frivolity, environmentally-speaking. Yet the papers get more and more glitzy with heavier, chemically-enhanced coatings. Add ribbon and you are likely adding nylon - another man-made substance - to their refuse. Use eco-friendly gift wrap instead - it is available at specialist stores. Try paper ribbon or raffia, instead of nylon. Reuse your old gift wrap. Or how about using simple brown kraft paper decorated by hand?

Shopping at pressies4princess can help you reduce the environmental impact of your gift giving. You can buy locally produced handmade gifts and UK handmade jewellery here. We also stock a range of eco-friendly, Fair Trade gifts And, we also offer an eco-friendly gift wrapping alternative.

Arriving hot on our shores, like the latest US hit TV show, these fabulous hand-decorated Martini glasses are the latest must-have gift. In style and attitude, they're right up the Sex and the City/ OC/ Gossip Girl generation's alley.

Brand new to the UK - having already taken the US by storm - they seem just perfect for girlfriends. New to the UK, here's your chance to 'discover' a gift that's going to be huge by Christmas, making you a trend-setter. Who knows, your gift might even be the start of her new collection?!

Each glass is spectularly packaged in a gift box and, each has a fab. cocktail recipe on the bottom to match the motto in the design. There are dozens in the range and we've added four of the best, with more coming soon.

No girl likes something every other has. Take, for example, a woman walking into the ladies loos at a wedding to find someone else wearing the same dress; she wants to go home, immediately.Traditionally, spending lots of money has been the easiest way to avoid this awful situation. Buying boutique not High Street.

Of course, sometimes a girl does want what others have, but only a select few. They want the accessory with the celebrity price tag. They want to own a bit of the dream. Unfortunately, that's going to cost you dearly.

But, if your girl craves genuinely exclusivity and wants to avoid the crowd AND the hype, then don't buy designer labels. Opt for UK handmade instead. Not only will it give her something few others have, it won't cost you an arm and a leg. Plus, you will be supporting UK craftspeople. You'll also get a lot more 'wow' for your money. 

When you buy 'designer', you're helping to pay for all those polished TV commercials, full page adverts in the glossy mags and not to mention the freebies given to the celebrities for endorsement. By the time the brand has paid for all that, how much money do you think is left to produce the actually product? You certainly don't get value for money!

Also, while designer might be expensive, it's not truly exclusive. Yes, only a small percentage can afford to buy it, but we're still often talking hundreds of thousands or millions, not tens.

Tens is what you get with boutique handmade items. And, tens may well literally mean ten. We've stocked handmade items with limited editions of just 20 pieces. Imagine that - giving something that she's never-ever likely to see anyone else with.

And, with handmade your cash isn't spent on advertising. Instead it pays for studious hours of craftsmanship (or craftswomanship - as is often the case), which means it's evident in the gift.

One of the great things about the Internet is that it makes it so easy to find and buy handmade items you would never find otherwise. It puts the skill, creativity and ingenuity of thousands of craftspeople at your fingertips. Or, alternatively, it can connect you with the same brands and products you see all the time on the TV and in magazines. Which do you think she'll appreciate most?

If you're ready to sample the incredible talent of UK artisans, click here to see our handmade jewellery ranges or here to see all our handmade gifts.

Gift-wrapping - it can make a great gift disappointing or an average gift great. It's up to you (or us, if you ask us to gift wrap your presents).

Above all else, gift wrapping shows how much effort you put into the gift. Shoddy wrap gives the first inclination you didn't try very hard. Great wrap on a bad choice at least shows you were all out to please.

So, what if you can't do gift wrap? What if your best shot, looks effortless - for the wrong reason? Well, buy your gifts here in the pressies4princesses store and we'll individually gift wrap them  for you the traditional way - with wrap and ribbon. Otherwise, you could just learn the expert way from our professional gift wrappers, through our free pictoral tutorials. We're adding to these all the time, but so far we've covered...

• How to Gift Wrap Her Present
• Gift Wrapping a Tube or Cylinder
• How to wrap a bottle
• Ribbon Tie a Cylinder

Hope you find them useful. Your efforts will surely be appreciated!

How do you keep the romance alive when lavish gifts, swanky restaurants and exclusive weekend breaks are not within your budget? Well, it’s easier than you think. Because romance isn’t about money, and to prove it here's some inspirational ideas for low-budget romance.

1. Make her a card using a favourite photo. Or, write her a love letter. Pop either in her bag or desk or car for her to discover.

2. Breakfast in bed will make her feel cosseted and loved. Presentation is everything -- a napkin and a spring bloom from the garden will nicely set off a low-budget breakfast of tea, croissants, fruit juice and yoghurt.

3. Take her for a romantic walk in a city park or the area local. Virtually everywhere looks and feels romantic just now. Why not rustle-up a picnic and make a day of it?

4. Rustle up a romantic meal at home. Candles, music and a well-set table will create the desired atmosphere. Sit facing one another so you can give her your undivided attention.

5. Pamper her. Run her a candlelit bath or give her a soothing massage. Leave her to relax in front of the TV and do the clearing up. A gift of a little "me time" is often the best of all.

And when only a gift will do...

Some gifts for under ten pounds for that romantic moment.

Scented Bath Roses - £4.99 These will add the finishing touch to her bath and make her smell fabulous, while providing the perfect substitute for the dozen red roses you would no doubt have bought her if money were no object.

Love Love Tea - £4.95 Love, philosophical thought and a cup of tea. A gift she will love – while showing your true colours as a thoughtful, caring type of guy.

52 Ways to Stay in Love Forever - £4.99 A little book that tells her you’re in love and have every intention of staying that way. What girl wouldn’t be entranced?

I Love You More Than Chocolate Bar - £9.50 A loving declaration – plus chocolate. A surefire winner.

So many gifts we buy today are made in poorer developing countries. And, we've all heard the horror stories of children working as slaves in weaving workshops, trainer factories with criminally-low wages and toys made with toxic substances. It may lead us to wonder how our own gift was produced. Was anyone exploited? Were children harmed? Was the environment damaged? Well, with this new gift range, buyer and recipient can rest easy.

Our new Fair Trade gift range is an ethically and environmentally-sound collection. It celebrates the skill and artistry of the worker, rather than exploiting them. Each item is hand-made using traditional age-old skills and traded under Fair Trade principles. In other words, the worker was paid a decent wage for their work and they worked in safe conditions. Also, no children were exploited to make these gifts.

These gifts also tick the environmental box. Eco-friendly production methods are used and materials come from sustainable resources. So the Sheesham wood for the frames is from managed forests, for example. While natural materials are used in favour of man-made alternatives - even the dyes are all vegetable-based.

The result is a beautiful range of gifts packed with hand-made charm and untainted by exploitation - of any kind.

Browse the Fair Trade gift range

Of course, buying UK handmade is another great way to avoid supporting unsavoury business practices. By doing that you are supporting UK arts and crafts skills, localised production (which is always going to be better than shipping products halfway around the world) and low environmental-impact production (no nasty factories, natural materials, etc).  Our hand-made gifts and UK hand-made jewellery.

When money is tight, the old saying: "It’s the thought that counts" really does come into its own. But, it’s amazing how many of us fall into the same present-buying traps. Why waste your limited resources on a gift that won’t be appreciated?

Some common gift-buying mistakes

1. We buy the gift we would like
But we're not all the same. It may be your taste, but is it hers? Try to be objective. Put yourself in their shoes. Are they really going to appreciate it?

2. We show no imagination
So, you can pick up a gift pack at Tesco’s or a plant at the Shell garage - you think they don't realise that? Carefully select your gift -- don't grab it at the last minute.

3. We have one-track minds
Many of us become stuck in a rut with present buying. We buy our loved ones the same gift (or same sort of gift) year in and out. That's just dull. Time to think outside the box.

4. We fail to present our gift properly
Wrap your gift well. It shows effort. Plus, she’ll be much too enchanted to feel let down by the inexpensive gift inside.

Read the rest of the most common pitfalls at Top Ten Gift Buying Mistakes

Suggestions for gifts on a budget:

For the newlyweds:
Orchid T-light £7.95
A stylish T-light in go-with-anything parchment to provide a touch of romantic atmosphere in the couple's first home. Looks much more expensive than it actually is.

For the anniversary:
The Anniversary Book £21.99
A place where the happy couple can look back on the past and jot down all those precious moments for posterity.

For the christening:
Handmade Fairy Friend £16.99
The credit-crunch won't hit this little fairy - not at this price. Handmade in England.

For teacher:
Spaceform Thank You Token £6.95
With its simple message and charmingly-scrawled kisses in a child's handwriting, this will become a treasured item on teacher's desk for years to come.

For ages we've been wrestling with how to add useful stuff to pressies.  We've been trying to be useful since 2002. Gift guides like Top 10 Gift Buying Mistakes have been featured in the Times. But adding this stuff was so time consuming, we didn't do it often enough.

Enter blogging. The answer to our prayers. It means we can spend more time on the advice. Less time on actually getting it online!

"Gifts Solved" is going to be the hub of all our useful stuff: gift guides, gift reviews, giving tips, gift wrapping tutorials and that all-important inspiration, plus some fantastic offers. Think of it as gift-giving central.

If you don't want newsletters filling your inbox, then adding this blog to your reader get's you Fish's Bicycle (our romantic tips newsletter) and Inspirational Offers (our money-saving gift ideas newsletter) abridged. And, a lot more besides.

Check back soon to see how we can help get your gifts solved!

Steve