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Writer's pictureCarla Danks

A Welsh Christmas

As Christmas season is fast-approaching, the shelves in our local supermarkets are being filled with the beautiful festive decorations and all the delicious chocolates and treats we all so love!

The weather is changing, the winter coats are well and truly dusted off and the dark nights are drawing in - it’s time to get Christmassy!


This Christmas at Carla’s Cwtch we are focussing on who we are and what we are about. As we’ve spoken about previously, we are all about the love of Wales. Our aim is to keep our Welsh traditions alive, continue to share our pride for Wales and we want to make our customers feel loved!

Our focus is to move away from the novelty Christmas jewellery we see so much of (and do love, of course!) and provide a Welsh Christmas collection that will give the gift of Wales to you and your loved ones; allowing more of us to proudly wear Welsh all year around.






Welsh gifts


Did you know we have traditional Welsh gifts? Including Welsh blankets given as a wedding gifts and carved lovespoons to be given to a loved one.


Carthen blankets:

  • Carthen is Welsh for any sheet, blanket or material made of woven cloth. Its literal translation to English is ‘coarse cloth’.

  • The tradition of blanket making in Wales goes back centuries and brings families together.

  • The popularity of the Carthen is from its potential to keep anyone warm in all weathers and it’s ability to decorate anyone’s home. Traditionally the tapestry blanket would have been given as a wedding gift; after a fulfilled marriage this hardwearing and comforting piece could then be passed through the family generations as part of individual heritage.


Not my own image


Lovespoons:

  • Love Spoons are a historic form of art. The oldest surviving Welsh Love Spoon dates back to 1667; however the art form is known to have been practised in Wales earlier than this.

  • Love spoons have deep symbolic meaning and were originally carved by men as a token of their affection for a romantic interest. The intricacy of a spoon would depict the skill of its carver to the one receiving the spoon. Over time, the meaning of presenting somebody with a lovespoon has evolved and it has even become common for people to have a collection of lovespoons gathered from many occasions in life; be it a wedding, birthday or the arrival of a newborn.


These beautiful examples of handcarved lovespoons were created by our grandfather, Idris Thomas who, at the age of 91 is still crafting, painting and going strong. He has created hundreds of incredibly intricate designs which have been created for every important life occassion from weddings to births.


As you may already know, Carla’s Cwtch is a family-run business; Carla and myself being first cousins, and Carla’s husband, Jack, is our photographer. Both carthen blankets and lovespoons are integrally tied to family, they represent the true heritage and culture of Wales and they are so unique and beautiful in design. In some ways, our family are very much like the Carthen blanket - close-knit, traditionally Welsh and most definitely unique (in the best way!). Plus, you can definetly see where the creative gene come from.


Our designs are inspired by Carthen for all of the above reasons. Very much like the gifting of a Welsh blanket, Carla’s vision and aim is for the recipient of our jewellery to feel loved, for our product to be handed down as heirlooms and to show a pride in Welsh craft.





Christmas gifting at Carla's Cwtch


One of Carla’s biggest challenges was understanding that she is not able to satisfy everybody’s needs/wants. Over the years Carla has worked tirelessly to create a huge range of Christmas designs (we went through all of our Christmas stock recently and.. wow, there was a lot!) trying hard to please every taste but she realised that’s not always the way to go as it’s pretty impossible.

We came to the decision that we need to stay true to who we are, what inspires us and what we are trying to achieve from our business. This means we are going to provide “A Welsh Christmas” collection, celebrating and sharing our love for our Welsh traditions. Who’s with us?!




It is worth noting that there will a limited supply of last year's Christmas bestsellers available to purchase from selected stockists (while stocks last). Head over to our social media platforms or get in touch to find out more about our stockists and where to find them. We will also have Christmas Mystery Bags available at market days.



Our fav Welsh gift businesses


Moose & CO.

We have had the absolute honour and pleasure of working with and alongside Moose & CO. If you follow us on social media, you would’ve already seen some of their incredible creations and products. Moose & CO also share our love for the Carthen pattern so it made perfect sense for us to collaborate. We love that our products complement each other so well and we are always in talks on how else we can bring our products together so, watch this space!



Visit their page to see more of their wonderful products:



Max Rocks

Another fabulous company, who has been a huge encouragement to us as we started our wholesale journey, is the award-winning Max Rocks who specialise in high-end & eco-friendly Welsh themed cards, learning resources, homewares and stationery all uniquely designed by Sian Cartledge in the Brecon Beacons.

We have plans to work together on something special in the future and I can't wait to see where this special relationship could go.



Check out their full product range and stockists.




Save the date

We have decided to launch the Christmas collection on:


Friday 10th November

Make sure you keep an eye on your inboxes and our social media platforms for updates on what will be available in the Christmas collection, we’ll definitely be uploading some sneaky peak content so keep your eyes peeled!

We would also love for you to visit us at our Christmas market events that are coming up. As you may remember in our last blog post, these events are so important to small businesses like ours, so much time and effort goes in to the preparations and setting up for the event and it’s all for you - so please come and show your support! We absolutely love meeting and chatting to all our customers and you’re guaranteed to have a wonderful day out - it’ll definitely get you in the festive spirit!


Click the links for more information:




Treorchy Christmas Festival and Parade


You can find 100’s of wonderful Christmas markets all over the UK. Check out your local area, search for the best UK markets, look on social sites for where you can find your favourite crafters. Put those dates in your diary and plan a fabulous day out.


Autumn Collection sale


Our Autumn beauties are still available on our website and at our stockists stores, so remember to take advantage of 20% discount of the whole range. Make sure you’re quick as it’s only while stock lasts and we wouldn’t want anyone to miss out!



Our must-have essentials are included in the sale, carrying you through from Autumn to Winter. Make a statement with the rich and vibrant autumn colours or simply pair with your neutral cosy-knits.




You may even find a Christmas gift for your loved ones!




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