Kate Hodolic is the founder and creative director at Afternoon Pick Me Up — an online gifting emporium specialising in thoughtful gift boxes that are all about self-care (or giving the gift of self-care).

We chatted about the ritual of gift giving, and the importance of self-care.

How do you curate of your Christmas Boxes? 

Last year was based on the traditional Christmas colours, like greens and reds. But this year we went back to Afternoon Pick Me Up (APMU) basics: pink! Its what we love and what we do best so that was our starting point. 

Of course, we've loved Celia Loves Christmas candles the last couple of years and this year was no different. The Celia Loves collaboration candle is the focus in every single gift box. We've just paired our other pink gifts around them.

The red foil in the candle packaging is just beautiful and brings all the gifts together with a festive vibe. 

How do you help people decide which gift box to gift?

To start with? We ask do you have a bath? if the answer is no, that cancels out relaxation experience gift boxes. We love to ask what scents people love, are they after pampering or healthy snacks? Their own answers usually arrive at the perfect gift.

This Christmas we've focused our boxes on experiences; pamper and healthy snacks, the ultimate gift bundle is both. Not that we have favourites (we love them all) but our pick this season is Frosty The Snowman. It incorporates a little bath time experience together with some healthy treats.

We believe a perfect afternoon is grabbing a cuppa, lighting our Celia Loves Christmas candle and snacking on The Musk Hill Dark Chocolate.

Owning your own business and working from home can be hard, how do you keep balance?

I attend Barre classes three times a week. This gets me out of the house and nourishes my mental and physical wellbeing. On these days I notice a difference in my productivity levels, and my mental and emotional space to take on challenges and tasks.

I also make sure that nourishing my body from the inside out is really important. Especially the past two months, I've focused on eating clean, whole foods.

Also, I've learnt to say 'no' to the right things. There are so many events, catch-ups it's impossible to say yes to them all and expect to not be exhausted. So this year I'm paying more attention to self-care and saying no to the things that will upset the balance.

Tell us something about you people don't know.

I'm always surprised to hear people didn't realise I had a confetti business (a little teaser for what we may be adding to our boxes next year)...