Christmas · Baby · Gifting

A name on the mantelpiece: My 1st Years' personalised Christmas collection

Stockings, sacks and baubles with their name on, from a Northampton brand that has been personalising since 2010. The bits of Christmas that come down from the loft every year and get more precious each time.

By Motherhood  ·  5 min read

Yes, it is October. Yes, the shops have had Christmas out since roughly August, and yes, it is a bit much. But if this is your baby's first Christmas, one job is worth doing early: anything with a name on it takes time to make, and the nicest pieces tend to go first.

My 1st Years, the personalised gifting brand based in Northampton, has been putting names on things since 2010, with design, production and personalisation all under one roof. Its new Christmas collection is built around the bits that come out every December without fail: the stocking, the sack, and the bauble that gets hung in exactly the same spot every year.

Why the personalised bits stick

Most of what you buy for a baby's first Christmas will be outgrown by Easter. The sleepsuit with the pudding on it, the tiny knitted jumper, the toy they ignore in favour of the wrapping paper. The things that last are the decorations, mostly because they do not have to fit anyone.

There is something quietly lovely about a name on the mantelpiece. It marks a new person's place in the family Christmas, and every year it comes out with the same stories attached. "That was your first stocking. You slept through the whole of Christmas morning." They will not believe you, but they will ask to hear it again.

Most first-Christmas outfits are outgrown by Easter. A stocking does not have to fit anyone.

Traditions that take five minutes

Nobody needs to invent a full set of family rituals on four hours' sleep. A stocking that goes up on the same day each year, a bauble the baby "hangs" (with considerable help), a sack that appears on Christmas Eve: small, repeatable, done. For more ideas, our piece on family rituals your kids will remember is a good place to start, and our personalised Christmas gifts guide covers the presents themselves.

A quick word on safety

Stockings, sacks and ceramic or glass baubles are decorations, not baby toys. Hang them well out of reach of grabby hands and determined crawlers, and keep them out of the cot. The Lullaby Trust is clear that "the safest cot is a clear cot", so however festive the stocking, it lives on the mantelpiece, not where your baby sleeps.

Our picks from the collection

Five pieces from the new range, from a full stocking-and-sack set to a small keepsake for the tree. Every one is personalised with the name of your choice.