It's July. Someone at work has organised a secret santa with the admirable confidence of a person who owns a laminator. And now you need actual Christmas in July gift ideas.
Good news: Christmas in July is lower stakes than December. Fewer obligations and more room to be playful. That's exactly the kind of gifting we're good at (no emotional support pavlova required).
This guide covers all the traditional bases (festive food and drink, cosy warmers, novelty gifts, DIY touches), including one category of Christmas in July presents that has a lasting impact you can feel good about.
Quick picks: Christmas in July gifts at a glance
Here’s the quick version. The gift guide equivalent of finding a park right outside the cafe.
- A Fair Trade chocolate hamper or gourmet basket
- Ethically made throw or locally produced beeswax candles
- A funny-but-useful novelty gift (that won't live in a drawer by August)
- Handmade biscuits or a DIY ornament kit
- A Christmas Charity card from Oxfam Unwrapped
- A grow-your-own herb kit or seed bomb set
- Reusable keep-cup for winter coffee runs
- Mini card games or pocket puzzles
- The Christmas Animal Bundle for a corporate Kris Kringle
What is Christmas in July?
Christmas in July lets Australians enjoy the winter version of Christmas without trying to keep custard cold in 38-degree heat. It’s your mid-year excuse to do all the things December Christmas does (gather people, enjoy food, exchange gifts, share a laugh), but in the cold and with considerably less pressure.
Some people say it grew from the idea that Australians, cursed or blessed as we are with a summer Christmas, deserved a celebration that felt wintry. No one's entirely sure when it became A Thing, but it's been A Thing for a while now (since sometime in that famed golden age… the 80s), and workplaces in particular have embraced it enthusiastically.
In some places, it has become a proud tradition of mulled drinks, office lunches and people saying “just something small” with absolutely no useful detail.
Gift-giving expectations are usually modest: one gift per person, Secret Santa style, with a budget to match. Novelty and fun are the primary briefs. Which makes it the perfect occasion to try something a little different.
Festive food and drink
Food is the cornerstone of Christmas in July. It's one of the easier categories to get right, as long as you're thoughtful about what's in the basket.
Fairtrade chocolate hampers
Chocolate hampers are the undisputed crowd-pleaser of winter gifting. But not all chocolate is made equal.
For chocolate that ensures farmers get paid fairly, helps fund local schools and clinics, and protects children from forced labor, look into Fairtrade chocolate. It’s widely available, equally delicious, and increasingly easy to find in well-curated hampers and specialty grocers.
When the chocolate is this good, it's worth knowing where it came from. Look for Fairtrade certification and opt for small-batch or locally produced options where possible.
Gourmet baskets with ethical origins
Beyond chocolate, a well-assembled gourmet basket makes for a Christmas in July present guaranteed to go down well. You know, all the good stuff: local honey, small-batch jam, artisan crackers, specialty tea or Fairtrade coffee.
Source from local makers where you can. Farmers' markets, independent grocers and local food co-ops are your friends here. You’re not aiming for a lavish basket, but a considered one.
Warm drinks for cold mornings
Fairtrade hot chocolate sachets or a bag of specialty coffee beans, paired with something small and handmade, is one of the easiest and most appreciated Christmas in July gift ideas going. Simple (and consumed before it has any chance of becoming a regift situation).
And if you want to give a Christmas in July gift that celebrates the connection between food and community at a deeper level, the Christmas Garden card represents a real donation to Oxfam and can support our work helping farmers build livelihoods from homegrown produce. It's a beautiful fit for the occasion.
Cosy winter warmers
This is the category that Christmas in July was made for. Cold weather, warm gifts. The brief has put on socks and poured itself a mulled wine.
Throws and layers
A well-made throw is one of those gifts people really use. The key is choosing one that lasts; ethically made, locally produced if possible, from natural fibres rather than fast-fashion fleece.
It costs a little more to buy well here, but it's the kind of gift that earns a mention months later. Not all throws are created equal. Some are heirlooms. Some become the dog’s. Choose wisely.
Beeswax candles from small makers
Local, natural, long-burning and just beautiful. Beeswax candles from independent makers are a step up from the mass-produced alternatives and support small businesses in the process. Bonus: they smell amazing with natural scents.
Reusable keep-cups
Practical, planet-friendly and useful for approximately every single morning of winter. Choose a well-made version in ceramic or stainless steel from an ethical maker. It's the gift that pays off every time they head out for a flat white in the cold.
And here's one for the list that earns its place in this category more than it might first appear: the Christmas Handloom card represents another real donation to Oxfam, and has the power to help women in Sri Lanka build livelihoods through textile industries, including hand-loomed fabrics. A gift about warmth, craft and care while supporting women to build independence, given in the spirit of a cold July evening. That's a cosy winter warmer in every sense.
Novelty and gag gifts
It’s Christmas. In July. We have already agreed to suspend normal rules. The best novelty gifts get a laugh and are genuinely used.
Funny-but-useful small gifts
Mini card games, pocket trivia decks, clever desk accessories, locally made tea towels with something unexpected printed on them. These are the gifts that get passed around the table and spark a conversation.
Grow-your-own kits and seed bombs
A grow-your-own herb kit (maybe basil, coriander, or mint) is fun and useful. Same goes for seed bombs: toss them in a garden patch and see what happens. Both fit the fun-but-not-frivolous brief perfectly, and neither produces waste.
Skip the gadgets
Tech gadgets and novelty devices are a staple of the generic Christmas in July gift guide. More often than not, they're also the thing that ends up in the bin or at the back of a drawer. If it needs charging, comes in excessive packaging, and does one thing a phone already does: think carefully.
Instead, consider a novelty gift nobody's expecting (and isn’t that exactly the point?). Like this really punny Christmas fish. Even better, you can help communities living on the Mekong River protect their fishing livelihoods now and in the future.
DIY and traditional touches
Some of the best Christmas in July presents are the ones you spend time rather than money on.
Homemade baked goods
A tin of homemade biscuits, shortbread, or a jar of homemade jam made with seasonal fruit is the kind of gift that lands every time. It won’t cost you much, takes an afternoon, and shows real effort. Pair it with a handwritten card and you're done.
Handmade ornaments
Have you got some fabric scraps, air-dry clay or pressed flowers put away somewhere? A simple ornament made from recycled materials is an underrated Christmas in July present, particularly for family gatherings.
Make it meaningful by incorporating something personal. A shared colour or a tiny inside joke pressed into clay. Kids are brilliant at this. Adults are surprisingly willing once they start.
Personalised playlists and video messages
We love these. Free, personal, zero waste, and sometimes more memorable than something wrapped. A curated playlist for a memory or a person, or a short video message from a group of friends. It sits in a category of its own. It says: I thought about you specifically. And don’t we all love to be thought of.
Meaningful gifts from Oxfam Unwrapped
Oxfam Unwrapped turns gift-giving into something that feels good in every way. Every funny, cute card represents a real donation to Oxfam, helping fund practical tools and long-term work that creates lasting change.
From clean water to women’s empowerment and more, every gift supports communities working to overcome inequality and poverty. You can personalise your cards with a message, send them as e-cards or printed cards, and yes, they're tax-deductible.
Christmas Chicken — a perennial crowd favourite. It takes confidence to wrap a chicken. Fortunately, this one comes in card form. (And can support Oxfam's work helping families build sustainable farming livelihoods.)
Christmas Goat — a classic for good reason. It can support Oxfam's work with families in Timor-Leste. If someone's been called the GOAT lately, this is the only appropriate response.
Christmas Cow — udderly brilliant. The Christmas Cow can assist women in Timor-Leste to build their own businesses (like dairy farming!) to become more independent.
Christmas Collection Bundle — seven different Christmas cards in one purchase. The corporate Kris Kringle solution for workplaces that want to give something genuinely considered across the whole team, without seven separate shopping decisions.
Browse the full Kris Kringle range
Gifts by recipient
For coworkers
The Kris Kringle exchange at work is the most common Christmas in July gifting scenario, and the brief is usually: keep it fun, and make sure it doesn’t require a conversation afterwards.
The Christmas Fish from $10 and the Christmas Chicken from $14 are budget-friendly Kris Kringle options, and they won’t be relegated to the back of the desk drawer.
For more workplace-specific ideas, check out this guide to Secret Santa gift ideas. Here’s the cheat sheet:
- Reusable coffee cup. Not just practical, but planet-friendly too.
- Trivia card deck. Pocket-sized fun for slow days at work or pub nights.
- Cord keeper or cable organiser. The unsung hero of every desk drawer.
- Tiny pot plant. Something green to make their desk 12% happier.
- Novelty socks (done right). The kind they’ll actually wear.
- Locally made honey or jam. Tastes like you tried, even if you didn’t.
- Hand-sewn mini heat pack. Like a warm hug for tense shoulders.
- Seed bombs or grow-your-own herbs. A tiny nudge toward a greener life.
- And if you're organising the whole event, our corporate gift ideas guide is worth a read too.
For family
Family Christmas in July tends to be warmer and more personal than the office version. A Fairtrade chocolate hamper, a handmade contribution to the table that you know even your nephew will love, or an Oxfam Unwrapped card that reflects something close to your recipient’s heart.
The Christmas Animal Bundle is sometimes a good option for the post-dinner fun that can feel a bit like a family zoo. And for the family member who already has everything (you know who they are), this Christmas gift guide has some ideas specifically for them.
Ready to sort your Christmas in July?
Christmas in July is meant to be lower stakes, smaller budgets, and just enough of an occasion to try something a little more considered than novelty mug #37.
Whatever you choose — a Fair Trade hamper, a handmade tin of biscuits, or a charity card that supports communities building better futures — the best Christmas in July gifts are the ones that show you gave it some thought.
Even if that thought happened on the bus this morning.
