Price
First, work out a budget – how much do you want to spend? At low prices, branded wines will probable dominate the shelves. Hardys, Jacobs Creek and Penfolds are wines which are accessible, tasty, consistent wines at the expense of being a little dull. Our top tip is that branded wines use promotions as a regular marketing strategy, so it can be worth waiting for these to crop up before you buy.

Cheap wine doesn’t have to be boring – there are plenty of interesting wines around that do not break the bank. If you are looking for a cheap, interesting wine, you are better off avoiding the well-known regions. A cheap bottle of Bordeaux is generally disappointing, so maybe go for something from Southen Italy or the lesser known regions of Spain.

Specialist Merchants
If you have a little more room in your budget, there are plenty of good wines to choose from. However, many of these wines are unable to produce their wines in large enough quantities to be able to supply supermarkets. Therefore, it is advisable to go to a smaller wine merchant who should have a good supply of mid-range wines for you to choose from.

If you have a local wine merchant near you, cultivate a relationship wth them. Hopefully, they will start to learn about what you and your palate likes and they will be able to make recommendations. As most local wine merchants are also passionate about their product, you may also learn some interesting facts from them!

Smaller is better?
Smaller is often better when it comes to win. Fine wine isn’t manufactured – it’s a slow, delicate process. Most wines are not scaleable because they are limited by the size of the vineyards, and it is often unfeasible to plant larger vineyards. Because of this, many fantastic wines are only produced in relatively small quantities, and are therefore only stocked by smaller shops. Leave the beaten track and you may be surprised!

Wine Critics
It is always interesting to see what wine critics have to say, but do not follow everything they say. Learn what critics have the same palate as you, and follow their recommendations. Remember that not everyone has the same palate so different people will enjoy different things. Wine is not a science, it’s an art!

Many newspaper critics will also only review wines which are readily available, which means that some of the smaller, more interesting wines will not get covered – it’s not that they don’t want to cover these wines, it’s a case of what the general public can get a hold of.

Stock up
If you are new to wine, do not stock up too much in the beginning. You will find that your palate and tastes will change over time and you do not want to be lumbered with lots of bottle of wine that you don’t like. You should also try out a variety of wines in the beginning to work out what your favourites are – it would be a shame to stock your cellar full of one wine and then find out later that your true passion is for something else!

Bins and Sales
There is no shame in plundering the bins for sale wines! Many merchants will try and sell their excess stock twice a year, normally January and August. This is an excellent time to pick up some bargain varieties of wine that you haven’t tried before. It’s also a good idea to keep an eye out for the new lines as decent wine tends to sell quickly. Get yourself on a wine merchant’s mailing list so that you are the first to hear about their new stock and their latest wine bargains.

The first crucial point when buying lingerie is know her size! If you buy her something too large, she will be offended; if you buy her something too small, she will never wear it.

Know her tastes – not all women are happy with thongs. Find out her favourite colours, styles and materials. If you aren’t too sure about what sort of style to go for, here are a few ideas:
– If she has fantastic legs, got for something short like a baby doll or a short chemise
– If she has great cleavage, a halter or bustier style (such as a corset) may go down well
– If she has toned arms, a camisole will look fantastic.

Black and white (or cream) underwear is a fairly safe option. Red also looks good on most people. Blondes tend to look better in pastel colours, whereas brunettes can carry off slightly stronger colours such as deep purple with style. Red-heads look great in greens and blues and earthy colours.

Materials such as silk, stain and velvet have that tactile appeal, but make sure that it is tasteful! If it feels awful to the touch, she will not wear it. If in doubt, go for cotton.

Presentation of the gift is nearly as important as the actual lingerie itself. If possible, wrap the lingerie in tissue paper before placing it in a pretty box or bag. If you are feeling particularly creative, add scented beads or dried rose petals into the bag too. If possible, get a gift receipt with your purchase, just in case you have bought the wrong size.

Not sure about the difference between all those types of underwear?

- Chemise: A straight gown that skims the body
- Negligee: A sheer gown, normally quite loose.
- Peignoir set: A negligee with matching sheer robe
- Baby-doll: A short gown that is tight around the bust-line and flares at the bottom
- Bustier: A less-restrictive corset that helps lift the breasts
- Camisole: A sleeveless top, often with matching knickers
- Teddy: A one-piece style pajama (similar to what babies wear)
- Thong: Full frontal coverage with a thin strap at the back
- Balconette Bra: A bra that has a straight line across the breasts when worn
- Plunge Bra: A bra that enhances cleavage. Normally a small centre piece between the two cups.

There are thousands of manufacturers of t shirts and there are a myriad of designs to choose from. Some t shirts can be used a marketing tool by giving out branded t shirts to users for free – when they wear them, other people will also see the branding on the t shirt hence the company gains free exposure.

T shirts come in a variety of colours sizes so that a wide range of people will wear them. Although the classic t shirt does not have pockets etc, some fashion t shirts do have non-standard bits on them to make them more fashionable. Some t shirts also now come with long sleeves.

There are also now companies which are able to print any picture onto a t-shirt for you at fairly low prices. Special printers for the home can also be bought which will print directly onto a t-shirt.

In screenprinting, the screen itself is made of a piece of porous material such as silk, polyester or nylon stretched over some sort of wooden or metal frame. Areas of the frame will be ‘blocked’ off with a non-permeable material. These blocked off bits are know as the stencil. Ink is then place on top of the screen and a rubber blade is used to push ink onto the screen openings. The ink passes through onto the paper or fabric below, staining it.

Screen printing can be used for making paintings. Screenprinting can also be used in things such as birthday cake designing, decals, clock faces, the electromagnetic faces of Palm Pilots, and much more.

Screenprinting is more versatile than more traditional printing techniques as the surface does not need to be under pressure, and it does not have to be planar. Lots of different materials can also be used in screenprinting therefore screenprinting can be used in lots of different industries.

At it’s most basic, scrapbooking is just a photograph album, which most people have. Many scrapbookers will go further than this and add related newspaper clippings, nice bindings, decorations and letters to the scrapbook.

Many scrapbooks are made with a particular theme or occasion in mind, such as the birth of a new child, or the history of a person, or memories of an old house when you move on.

The most important item in scrapbooking is the scrapbook itself. It can be a permanently bound book, or it can allow for the insertion of extra pages. Basic materials needed for scrapbooking include corners for mounting photos, scissors, sticky dots, glue or cellotape and coloured pens. If you are really creative with your scrapbooking, you can use things such as rubber stamps, stencils, craft punches, embossing tools etc.

There are no ‘rules’ to scrapbooking, although generally, the more creative the person, the better the pages of the scrapbook are. Imagination is the key to scrapbooking!

There are three major types of rubber stamp: rubber stamps for the office; children’s rubber stamps; rubber stamps used for decorating.

Business Rubber Stamps
Business rubber stamps are custom-made, usually showing a corporate logo along with contact details. They sometimes have moving parts to allow for dates to be stamped too. They are often used in stamping incoming mail and memos.

In Europe, sometimes signatures can be officiated with a rubber stamp. If these stamps are lost or stolen, they can be used in forgery or fraud.

Decorative (art) rubber stamps & Children’s rubber stamps
There is a larger market in the US than Europe for rubber stamps. Art rubber stamps have intricate patterns or pictures on them and are used for things such as decorating paper for letters, greetings card and other similar things. Some artists also use rubber stamps in their artwork.

Polo shirts are normally made of knitted cloth (instead of wovan cloth). Most of the time, the cloth is pique cotton, or sometimes silk, merino wool or synthetic fibres.

The most famous polo shirt is the Lacoste polo shirt. However, nowadays, many companies make polo shirts – both branded and not branded. Polo shirts are available in a range of sizes and colours and many companies will now also personalise polo shirts with company branding.

Some MP3 players also have radio stations in them so you can listen to the radio as well.

There are lots of different brands of MP3 player on the market, and each has different advantages and disadvantages. Each MP3 track will be about 3-5 MB in size, so the primary feature of an MP3 player is how large the hard drive is as this will give a good indication of how many music tracks it will be able to hold.

The most well know manufacturers of MP3 players are:
Sony
Creative
Apple
iRiver

The word hamper also has an agricultural meaning – it is a container with a wide mouth which is carried on the back of workers who are harvesting crops such as fruits.

The word hamper is normally used to denote a basket full of gifts – hampers are often given on special occasions such as at christmas or on people’s birthdays. Hampers can be filled with a variety of things from food, to wine to books.

Otherwise, here are a list of presents to give you some ideas!
- An experience day, such as flying or driving.
- Gadgets such as an mp3 player, digital radio or games console
- Boys toys such as fighting tanks, water pistols or shocking games
- Accessories for the car such as body kit, a tuning part or an accessory such as a gear stick knob.