Valentine's Gift Guide 2014: Last minute ideas from Fig and Sparrow

Stevie Mackenzie-Smith

Left it to the last minute? Panic not, it’s gifts a-go-go at Fig and Sparrow.

Where last minute birthday gifts and “honestly, I didn’t forget” moments are concerned, Fig and Sparrow is one of our faithful go-tos. Hotfoot it there on a lunch break and you’ll leave with something uncompromisingly lovely wrapped in tissue paper. With this in mind, and with a certain heart-shaped celebration just around the corner, we asked owners Jan and Emily to put together their pick of last minute Valentine’s gifts for friends, lovers and romantic creatures.

Je t’aime…moi non plus? Local designer Nicola Rowlands gives a couple of terriers the Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin treatment with a tongue-in-cheek cushion (£36, above). Everybody loves a mug… and at F&S there’s the Jansen variety in postbox red or Blossom & Bill designs by Anglo-Scandi brand Isak (both £10, above) and if you’re feeling flush (what price love, eh?), throw in a Forlife loose leaf teapot in red for good measure (£24, above).

Salford-based studio Mr PS always hits the nail on the head where easy-on-the-eye screen prints are concerned. The Northern Quarter Hankie is its latest item; a sweet new commission from Fig & Sparrow that maps the area’s streets (£8, above). Fir & Wren’s bicycle brooch, meanwhile, is the gift of choice for those into their wheels (£15, above). Or get your lover what they really, really want: a hastily inkjet-printed portrait of their fantasy other (Clooney/Binoche/Elba/delete as applicable), pop it in a Nkuku antique brass and glass standing frame (£18, above) and allow them to bask in their celebrity of choice’s adoring gaze. Buying for more of a Valentine’s traditionalist? You’ll be better off with a Wild Fig soy wax hand-poured candle from Kew Gardens (£20, above) and one of the cynicism-free locally made cards that declare “Hey Good Looking!” and “You’re the one for me!” And that’s it: Valentine’s Day , sorted.

Image by Jonathan Schofield.
Spotlight on

Walking Tours in Manchester by Jonathan Schofield

Presenting the best walking tours in Manchester for history buffs, culture enthusiasts, and those looking to scratch beneath the surface of the city.

Take me there

Culture Guides

Theatre in Manchester and the North
Theatre in the North

Eclectic as ever. You'll find inventive reworkings, world-class contemporary dance and Greater Manchester's inaugural Improv Festival in our guide.

Image by Jonathan Schofield.
Tours and Activities in the North

We've got many a good time in store this month as we round up the best walking tours, cultural classes and makers markets in the land.

portrait of Lorsung in a dark shirt with dark hair and dark round glasses
Literature Events in the North

We've got laughs and we've got leftfield on the live literature radar this month. Something for everyone, from poets playing with form to short story writers looking long.

Sextile
Music in the North

Open air clubs, new festivals and long-awaited gigs. The North West's live music scene is heating up this spring. 

Classical Music in the North

Read our latest highlights from the live classical music offer in Manchester and the North, taking in a number of the region's most cherished orchestral forces and venues.

Laura Ellen Bacon, Into Being, 2025. Photo © India Hobson, courtesy Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Exhibitions in the North

Willow weaving, textile collages, digital arts and ecology - all this and more in our exhibition top picks this month

Three men sit next to each other. One's head is bandaged, one holds a torch and one wears a sleepmask.
Cinema in the North

Live scores, midnight movies and the latest from Wes Anderson are just some of our upcoming film highlights.