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Alice Gully has been arranging tailored safari holidays to Africa since the late 1990s. She’s an expert on a horse, has a keen eye for a blissful beach and knows a remote but fabulous getaway when she sees it. Alice runs the Scotland office of Aardvark Safaris and here shares her insider tips on this year’s hottest safari experiences.

My packing tip: Look the part for dinner without taking up valuable suitcase space with the Navy Cocorose Foldable Ballet Flats, £44.95. Genius! l

Aardvark Safaris is offering Handpicked Collection customers a cool 5% discount on any holiday. Simply declare that you’re a HANDPICKER when you call Aardvark to discuss your bespoke safari, honeymoon, Indian Ocean beach retreat or once-in-a-lifetime tour through Africa.

It was with huge pride and pleasure that Jo, Amanda and I accepted The Handpicked Collection’s second consecutive award from ECMOD. It was presented to us by the dapper Dermot Murnaghan and we were awarded Best Gift Store 2012. And for us frankly it doesn’t get better than that. The award was voted for by the industry and other winners on the night included Artigiano, Hotel Chocolat and Charles Tyrwhitt.

It’s a year since Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William married on 29^th April. The happy couple plan to spend their anniversary ‘quietly and privately’, according to a Clarence House spokesperson. While we’re a little sad that Prince Harry won’t be shooting party goers out of cannons or instigating a United Nations conga, we understand. Thousands of guests attended their wedding, millions watched around the world, and billions have watched the quite astounding number of things the couple have got up to in their first 12 months as Prince & Duchess. A little time out is probably just what they need. However, as present planners we can’t help but cast a professional eye over the gifts the couple might exchange. After the deluge of wedding presents the first year anniversary is for the simple and heartfelt. It’s also traditional to give and receive paper presents. Perhaps Prince W will fashion origami flowers for his wife. The good Duchess could well be penning a sonnet. Perhaps history will relate, but if not here are our favourite ideas.

The Handpicked Collection’s Top Presents for a First ‘Paper’ Anniversary

Spineless Classics Fine Art Print The smart way to enjoy a famously good read. An entire novel is printed on high quality art paper ready to be framed and enjoyed.

Travel Journal The royal couple share a love of travel, and it’s just as well given how frequently the day job takes them out of the country. Here’s how to keep everything organised, while giving plenty of space to record everything they see and do.

Paper Potter Though possibly better suited to the green-fingered Prince Charles, our bestselling Paper Potter is a thrifty reminder that in austerity Britain it’s all about grow your own.

The Ginger Pig Meat Book Wills & Kate famously do all their own cooking. If the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, Kate couldn’t do better than adding this epic recipe book to her culinary library.

Coloured Chinese Flying Lanterns Chinese tradition dictates that the year’s problems disappear with these beautiful lanterns. Should the happy couple have already argued over whose turn it is to take out the bins, this could provide the perfect uplifting experience.

Paint Your Own Watercolour Postcards The couple met while studying History of Art at university. Here’s a lovely way for them to recreate some of their favourite works.

Carolyn Sheffield Elephant Wastepaper Bin This is a slam dunk when it comes to a smart household essential. Plus the couple love elephants. We don’t exactly know that, but who doesn’t like elephants?

My Life Story While the royal couple lives aren’t exactly short of documentary evidence, how nice for them to create their own history in their own words. This book allows just that with spaces for achievements, special events, likes (hint, hint) and dislikes in a tome bound to last a lifetime.

One Line a Day Diary Let’s face it, the Royal couple don’t have time to write more than a sentence. And if that proves beyond them after a day hoisting casualties into helicopters or opening museum wings they should go for our new arrival One Word a Day.

We’ve got a selection of wedding anniversary gifts to suit pretty much any couple, royal or otherwise.

The ubiquity of computer games and TV on-demand means kids aren’t playing outside as much as they used to. Research shows that fewer than one in ten children regularly play in wild places compared to almost half just a generation ago.* The National Trust’s response – their recently launched ‘50 things to do before you’re 11¾’ campaign – aims to get youngsters back to nature and connecting with the great outdoors.

Number 4 on the checklist? Build a den. Parents can get a head-start ticking off the list with The Handpicked Collection’s bestselling Real Adventure Outdoor Den Kit. The kit comes in a rugged camouflage bag and includes all the necessary garb for a hideaway worthy of Bear Grylls himself. Tarpaulin, groundsheet, mallet, rope, camouflage paint, webbing haversack, tent pegs, metal mug, instructions and hours of fun, all for just £29.95!

Click on the image below to see the full list. How many have you done?

March started well for me with the chance to experience one of the latest cutting edge treatments at Oskia’s dreamy new spa. As an award-winning luxury skincare brand, it was only a matter of time before someone convinced them they should open a spa and the result, within the Good Vibes fitness studio near Covent Garden, is as wonderful as their products.

Renowned therapist Abigail James devises their treatments and I was indulged with her ‘Revitalise – Detoxifying Face & Body Treatment.’ Designed to stimulate the natural detoxifying process, this treatment was given while lying on heated water pads which cushioned and warmed the body through  – helping release toxins and aiding relaxation. What followed was a series of brushing with different brushes, hot stones, a heavenly deep tissue massage and cleansing and reviving facial. Abigail used two different brushes for the body brushing – one coarser and the other of goat hair so soft it almost felt like silk. Apart from the detoxifying and circulations stimulating benefits, it was a relief to slough away the dry skin that doesn’t see the light of day at this time of year. The flexibility of the water pads means that you stay on your back for the massage and Abigail uses one’s own body weight to create pressure which gave a very different experience. The facial that concluded the treatment was blissfully relaxing and I was confident of its effectiveness as Oskia’s products are all  ‘high performance and nutritionally designed’. They use a range of sophisticated natural ingredients including wonder-supplement MSM which aids in the regeneration of collagen. Technical speak over…they feel and smell gorgeous too.

Treatment over, utterly revitalized and pampered, I was given a cup of delicious herbal tea in their beautiful ‘Library’ to re-assimilate me to reality. I didn’t get a chance to try the Glow Yoga this time but will make sure I do when I’m back…this secluded corner of Covent Garden is in danger of becoming a home from home.

p.s. If you’re looking for a spa experience at home we also highly recommend Oskia’s Massage Candle.

Popcorn at the ready because we’re off to the movies. The funniest member of The Handpicked Collection’s expert panel, comedian Sally Phillips, has co-written and features in screwball comedy The Decoy Bride. It’s the comedy genius’s first feature film, set on a remote Scottish island which a celebrity couple choose as a wedding venue in order to evade the paparazzi. Much mayhem ensues when a terminal singleton played by Kelly Macdonald is drawn into the mix and ends up marrying David Tennant by mistake. Which is the kind of error we like. Check The Decoy Bride’sFacebook page for the cinema nearest you, and apologies in advance for the hoots of laughter coming from the Apollo Cinema in Piccadilly this weekend.

Our gorgeous Pearl Tag Bracelet is this week’s Deal of the Week. Normally £29.95, at huge 25% off, it is now £22.46, and a perfect Mother’s Day Gift. Be sure to get yours quickly, the offer is only valid until midnight this Sunday and only whilst stocks last.

Pearl Tag Bracelet

Special Offer: Now £22.46

Extracted from The Virgin Gardener by Laetitia Maklouf

This not just for the realm of the ultra-organised. Wreaths are deliciously easy to make and welcome you in to your own home after a long day at work, which is delightfully self-respecting and cheery

TIMING: Winter

YOU WILL NEED: A good armful of evergreen foliage. This could, of course, be holly, but pine, cedar, fir, juniper, box, bay, eucalyptus, sage and even magnolia or camellia are all possibilities. Either get this from a flower market or your own garden, or beg from a kind neighbour.

Strong scissors or secateurs

A roll of thin wire – like copper but preferably black or green.

A wreath form – available from some florists, markets and art or DIY stores – or you could make your own, like I do, using think wire, fastening the ends with thin wire.

Wire cutters

METHOD: First you have to make lots of little sprigs our of your greenery. Snap off small pieces of foliage – 10-15cm long and wire them together into a think little bundle. Make lots of these bundles and then begin adding them to your wreath by laying each bundle along the length of the wreath from and tightly wrapping it with wire from halfway up its length to the bottom. Don’t cut the wire, but add another bundle, using the top of this second bundle to hide the bottom half of the previous one, and carry on winding the wire around this bundle until you reach the bottom of it, at which pint add another and so on until you have covered everything. This is your basic wreath and you can either adulterate if with whatever turns you on or leave it as it is.

MY FAVOURITE ADORNMENTS: Obviously berries are a must for some, and you can go down the classic route with holly or pyracantha berries, or use something else, such as rosehips. If you want to branch out a little, I suggest glass beads threaded onto wire, fruit such as dried citrus or pomegranates, kumquats, flowers poked into the foliage such as amaryllis, or anything blowsy that you can get from the garage, or nuts and acorns – either au naturel or sprayed gold or silver (bore holes in these with a very fine drill bit, and thread the wire through before attaching to the wreath) … You get the idea: once you have the basic wreath, the sky’s the limit.

Lastly, it’s sometimes nice to spray the whole thing white or silver with some florists spray to give it a snowy feel.

AND MORE: You can create garlands and swags in exactly the same way, either by making a frame out of the wire or – much simpler – by wiring your foliage to a length of rope that you’ve swagged around you fireplace or wherever. It’s lovely to do this with a aromatic foliage like bay, to get a nice heady fug going.

Buy the Virgin Gardener>>

The Virgin Gardener is wonderful inspiration for novice gardeners and those who’ve never really considered the delights of growing plants. It’s full of ideas, tips and ‘recipes’ for things to grow and ways to display flowers and plants. A truly delightful book will work as well as a hard working reference book as a bath-time inspirational read. We highly recommend it. Laetitia Maklouf is our newest Expert Panel member and we’re delighted to welcome her to Handpicked. An accidental gardener who discovered her passion when encountering an old seed packet at the back of a cupboard, Laetitia went on to write The Virgin Gardener and co-present Love Your Garden with Alan Titchmarsh.

Last month Pippa Middleton attended the Boodles Boxing Ball in a beautiful Temperley London dress accompanied by a glittery gold clutch, one and the same as our gold Wilbur and Gussie Clutch.

Buy the Gold Wilbur & Gussie Clutch from The Handpicked Collection>>