Christmas Gifts

The tree is up, the lights are tangled, and your list still has a few names with question marks beside them. Here is the cure. A hand-painted Limoges box is the gift that gets passed around the room on Christmas morning while everyone else's sweater stays folded in its tissue. It is small enough to tuck under a branch, sturdy enough to bring out every December, and it arrives gift-boxed, so the hardest part is choosing which ribbon.

Santa Takes the Scenic Route

Our Santas get around. You will spot him in a red sleigh with a present you can lift right off, hugging a teddy bear beside his gift bag, or waving from a famous skyline as if he planned the whole trip himself. Between his travels there are snowy deer, holly-wrapped hexagons, candles glowing with painted berries and a tree with not one hinge but several. Quiet moments get their turn too, with a small nativity that feels peaceful on a crowded mantel. Each one is painted by hand in France, and every lid opens on a hinge, so there is room inside for a ring, a note or a single peppermint.

Deck the Curio Cabinet

Christmas collectors are a cheerful, slightly competitive bunch. Many add one box each year and write the date on a slip of paper tucked inside, so the collection becomes a family calendar you can hold. Line up a parade of Santas on a windowsill, cluster snowy scenes on a cake stand, or give the nativity its own glass shelf. When the season ends, the boxes pack away in their presentation boxes and wait patiently for next year's reunion. Fair warning: guests will absolutely ask to open every lid.

More holiday magic lives in Santa Collectors, Snowmen, Trees & Ornaments and Nativity Collectors.