21 Christmas Gift Ideas for a Sizzling Summer in Cape Town

Who has time for Christmas gift shopping in Cape Town when there are things to do, places to go, people to see? We’ve curated a beautiful gift guide of things we’d all be thrilled to find under the tree, from pocket-friendly stocking fillers to OMG-I-won-the-lottery spoils. So you can cut out the overwhelm and wrap up the gift dilemma in one easy scrolling session.

This year we’re lusting after local luxe and individual handcrafted pieces, and we’ve also added some covetable international names to our list, so you’re bound to find something in our selection of beautifully conceived wares. Keep an eye out for these beautiful items that resonate with the essence of a sunshiney Christmas in true South African style.

African Jacquard Kuba Summer Throw

There’s something about a beautifully textured throw that makes summer feel instantly curated, taking you from stylish picnic to laid-back beach time, or cosied up by the fire on camping trips. This colourful Kuba design from African Jacquard is inspired by the designs found in Congolese fabrics, with a honeycomb weaving pattern and striking geometric designs. Woven from 100% locally sourced cotton, the reversible throw, pictured here in Fuchsia, also comes in zesty Lemon, deep blue Lagoon, vibrant Coral and cool Lime and measures 130 x 210cm. Plus it’s preshrunk and washable.
Cost R2 095
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Lene Ehlers Vase

Merchants on Long isn’t just a treasure trove of inspiring African fashion design, you can also fall in love with decor pieces and objets d’art such as these eminently collectable vases by Paarl-based artist Lene Ehlers. The whimsical handcrafted ceramics are decorated with her distinctive handpainted designs exploring ancient motifs and patterns. Swirling with exuberant but delicate patterns, each one-off vase has its own personality and energy.
Cost From R3 450
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Villa Pool Pillow

Lazy days by the pool are a not-to-be-forgotten highlight of the December calendar… and doing them in style is de rigueur! For the water babe who loves lounging or gently drifting in the water with a cocktail or iced tea in hand, this soft and luxurious pool pillow adds an extra touch of easy glamour and comfort. With a range of colours and fabric designs to choose from, the pillow can be used in the water or beside the pool for blissful summer holiday relaxation.
Good to know Order by 6 December for delivery before Christmas.
Cost R1 990
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Resin Fluted Bowl from Poetry

The hot pinks and fluted form of this bold and beautiful resin serving bowl evoke summer beach and tropical coral reef vibes from every sinuous curve. Just the thing for hotting up a festive table, for serving snacks beside the pool, or holding ice for an inspired flow of tropical tiki cocktails this is the perfect gift for young at heart décor aficionados of every generation.
Cost R799

Me&B Sun & Moon Shirt

An easy-wearing loose blouse is such a summer staple. This sun-moon bellow-sleeve design is from mother-daughter fashion label Me&B, who design and make all their pieces in Cape Town. Their aim is to make fashion inclusive and accessible for everyone with quirky and playful designs and timeless basics in a wide range of sizes. The loose flowing lines of this stylish shirt (in a light rayon/nylon fabric) are just what you need to go from beach days to relaxed nights on the town over the summer holidays.
Cost R699
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Verse Tote

There’s a poetry to a leather bag that endures and deepens over the years, especially when it’s handcrafted from sustainably sourced materials. Designer Shelly Lee started Verse in her garage in 2017 and now works with skilled artisans in a Woodstock studio on a range of practical accessories imbued with soul. We love the quiet luxury of the Everywhere Tote, designed with the modern explorer in mind. Big enough to accommodate your laptop one day, or a bouquet of flowers the next, it’s an everyday, everywhere bag for a busy and varied lifestyle. Lined with soft raw suede it comes in six beautifully natural shades.
Cost R2 450
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Cards for Conversation

This little box of big questions is for everyone who wants to dig deeper than the usual superficial trivialities of dinner party conversation. Acquaintances become friends, chat gets more meaningful as you take turns to draw a card and share what’s in your heart. There are 52 prompts in the box. If you get to the end of the box and discover the ‘Oof, that’s deep’ message inside, there’s also a second-edition box of cards to carry the conversation to new depths.
Cost R499
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Sealand Rowlie Backpack

For the sustainability-minded adventure lover, Sealand is a must-have Cape Town brand. Founded by two surfers and outdoors people in 2015, they are known for their upcycled and responsibly sourced materials, expert craftsmanship and thoughtfully designed pieces that will last a lifetime. This Rowlie backpack is something of a design icon, its roll-down top cleverly adjusting it from its full 30-litre capacity down to a compact day pack. With an external padded laptop sleeve (hidden at the back), comfortable curved straps and many useful pockets, it takes you from carry-on luggage, to mountain hiking trip, urban adventure, and morning coffee shop commute.
Cost R2 250

Diptyque Ilio Eau de Toilette

A spritz of Bohemian Paris on a glamorous summer holiday in St Tropez, that’s the evocative magic cast by Diptyque’s limited-edition Ilio bottle. A heady fruity-floral mix of barbary fig (prickly pear) and bergamot mingling with jasmine and iris, it’s a nostalgic fragrance for summer (suitable for men and women) that whisks you to the Mediterranean in an instant. For fans of this luxury Paris fragrance house, this would be the ultimate summer spoil.
Cost R3 390
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Pedersen + Lennard Pizza Trio

If you go to the effort of building a pizza oven and stoking a fire, you deserve the best in accessories for your pizza night pleasure. Cape Town furniture and homeware designers  Pedersen + Lennard have come up with a sizzling pizza package (and all their pieces are built to last). The Trio includes a stainless steel pizza peel to seamlessly transfer pizzas to the oven, a solid oak board to serve them on, and a durable and precise pizza cutter to divvy up slices with panache. So whether you go for slow-fermented puffy crusts Neopolitan-style or crisp, thin-based Roman-style pizzas, the cooking and serving will be a breeze.
Cost R2 095

Pichulik’s Mer Bracelet

Quintessentially South African and totally feminine in energy, the Pichulik atelier’s braided rope pieces are a perennial fixture on everyone’s wish list. The simple Mer bracelet design is all about a sense of belonging made through authentic connection. On a metaphysical level, brass has healing properties to boost the immune system and give courage. Made of braided rope and brass rings closed with a magnetic brass clasp, the bracelet comes in three sizes and four colourways: black, brown, beige, or cord-wrapped in airforce blue and tan.
Cost R850
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Spier WabiSabi Sideplate

There’s a beauty to imperfection when it comes in the form of individual hand-crafted ceramics. A table-setting where no two pieces are identical celebrates creativity and expression with a relaxed farm kitchen feel. These sideplates are made on the farm at Spier as a community project empowering local women, and each finished piece bears the name of its maker. The plates measure 15cm in diameter and come in either white or buttermilk. We love the rest of the WabiSabi range too, including this simple and unassuming milk jug.
Cost R140 (white sideplate), R160 (buttermilk sideplate)
R110 (milk jug)
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Veuve Clicquot Cooler

Instant sunshine is added to your life with this golden celebration of summer. The perfect gift for lovers of French champagne and stylish picnics (especially if you pop a matching bottle of bubbles inside), the covetable Clicquot Cooler (made from durable tin and personalisable) keeps your bubbly chilled for an hour. A smooth new addition to this summer’s Veuve Clicquot Road to the Sun collection (available for three weeks only at the V&A Yuppiechef store), it’s one for collectors of style icons too.
Cost R929
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Okra Screwed Candle

Who doesn’t love candles burning on the dinner table… Based in Somerset West, owners Michelle du Preez and Erik Rust hand-pour their candles into a range of super-stylish shapes based on 3D design. Reflecting a time when the Okra team felt a slight bit screwed, they describe this quirkily-named dinner candle as an inclined plane wrapped helically around a central axis. The smoothly spiralling result comes in an array of colours, but we love the classic simplicity of the ivory, perfect for the Christmas table or as stocking fillers.
Cost R85
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Bar Butler Cocktail Shaker

If you’ve drawn the name of a cocktail enthusiast for a Secret Santa gift, this nifty cocktail shaker is the answer. The transparent glass container comes marked with measurements and recipes for six different cocktails, making it a fun and foolproof way of perfecting your home cocktail shaking, whether you have a mania for Margaritas or a passion for Pina Coladas. It even shows the recommended glass shape and ice quantities. Plus it has regular ml/oz measurements for when you want to branch out into other recipes.
Cost R249
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Aesop Body Balm

This luxury bodycare range is high on everyone’s beauty wishlist for its lavish but ethically-sourced and cruelty-free creams and balms, with complex and distinctive aromas. This rich and nourishing body balm is perfect for skin-softening hydration all summer, blending rich nut oils with fragrant geranium leaf and citrus extracts. Just the thing for natural beauty lovers as a generous stocking filler or in a basket of spoils.
Cost R780
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Assouline Mykonos Muse Coffee-Table Book

Every coffee table covets an eye-catching stunner of a book filled with art-worthy photography and intriguing stories. Luxury publishing house Assouline does it so well… this one-of-a-kind ode to Mykonos is one that any style-savvy, travel-obsessed culture vulture will display proudly on their table. With luminous photography from Lizy Manola, it chronicles Mykonos from its days as a hideout for luminaries such as Le Corbusier and Antonis Benakis, to its moment as a sanctuary for the gay community, to its predominant party scene – all the while indulging the reader with the ruins and myths hidden on the island.
Cost R2 380
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Jasper & Jute Print by Frai Art

One of these evocative Karoo landscapes by Garden Route-based artist Fraï would be a wonderful way to keep memories of a special Karoo road trip alive… or just feast your eyes on the magical light and wide-open spaces depicted, and travel in your imagination. Available from online print store Jasper & Jute, each piece is available on paper or canvas in a range of sizes to fit the wall space available.
Cost R419 – R3 239 (print A5 – A0), R779 – R5 399 (canvas A5 – A0)
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Cape Cobra Lolita

Even the woman who has everything will make space in her wardrobe for this swoon-worthy gem of a bag. Exquisitely crafted from ostrich leather and luxuriously soft suede by third-generation Cape Town family business, Cape Cobra, the classic brown Lolita whispers luxury living with every hand-sewn stitch. The adjustable strap takes it from shoulder bag to wristlet or underarm bag, and the leather and goat suede lining features pockets… impossible to resist.
Cost R15 950 (chocolate suede and nicotine ostrich leg)

Pedrini Moka Pot Frida Khalo

The iconic Pedrini moka coffee maker becomes even more of a show-stealer with a Frida Kahlo makeover. This could be just what the art-loving coffee connoisseur has been waiting for… a colour-saturated focal point to the kitchen and breakfast table that brews rich aromatic coffee in pure Italian style. And a morning reminder of Frida Kahlo’s timeless art steeped in Mexican symbolism and iconography.
Cost R1 149 (3 cup), R1 499 (6 cup)
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Wooden Fishing Set

The littlies in your life will love getting into summer ocean mode on dry land with this tactile and fun magnetic fishing game. Designed for ages 3+, kids can hook a turtle, whale, seahorse or more with their fishing rods. The 10 different fish pieces (made from sustainably sourced wood) are chunky and appealingly designed, with satisfyingly clunky strength to the magnets. The game is simple and great for hand-eye co-ordination.
Cost R279
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The Hotlist 2025

Our hot new guide to 2025 in Cape Town makes the perfect gift for everyone who loves exploring the Mother City and its surrounds, whether on holiday or as a lucky local. Brimming with stories and inspiration, our annual Hotlist combines in-depth magazine stories with our Top 200 picks of restaurants, experiences, accommodation, local design and outdoor adventure. Keep it to hand on your coffee table to dip into all year round, and fill 2025 with a sizzling and sparkling series of adventures. It’s the only guide you need.
Cost R150
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