So, what are Recipe Bags anyway?

Fiona Thomas, founder at lifeslittlerecipes.co.uk, explains what Recipe bags are and how they can help you to connect with those you love.

Undoubtedly, one of the most wonderful and satisfying parts of running a business like lifeslittlerecipes.co.uk is getting to interact with you, our customers. You’re the reason I love my job! Your thoughtfulness, demonstrated through your desire to reach out to friends and loved ones via our products, is an inspiration to us all, so thank you! 

Customer feedback and questions are hugely helpful for the whole team, they inform every decision we make as the business grows. As you’ll imagine, we get asked many different questions each and every day. There is, however, one question we get asked more than any other: 

“So, what are Recipe bags anyway?”  

Before I can properly answer this question, I need to explain the idea that led to setting up LLR in the first place. 

What was the idea behind Life’s Little Recipes?

It all started with love and recognition. 

What do I mean by that? 

During my work as a cancer nurse and psychotherapy counsellor, I saw that, for my patients, nothing mattered more than being loved and being around those they love. When someone was loved, recognised and connected with, their life was complete. No matter what else was going on, they weren’t alone. Being seen as a unique individual, left patients feeling validated, worthwhile and happy. This type of connection would create an instant effect: the patient’s spirits would rise and they’d be left with a genuine sense of contentment. 

It really is magical to see, even in the darkest of times, the physical and psychological change that can happen within people when their own specialness, uniqueness, you-ness, is recognised. 

What are you supposed to say when times are hard?

Many times however, I’d hear how loved ones & friends didn’t visit or phone. 

Why? 

Many didn’t know what to say. They worried they would say the wrong thing and make it all worse. I even heard of friends crossing the road, pretending not to see one of my patients. These friends weren’t bad people, they simply didn’t have the tools to communicate about big issues like cancer and death. The truth is there is no secret to talking to someone who’s ill, you just need to be you. Simply say, ‘I don’t know what to say but I’m here for you, standing with you’. 

An opportunity to help

Over time, I realised that there was an opportunity to facilitate people in reaching out to each other. I could provide a service that helped when there were no words to say, through gifts that are authentic and often a little bit fun! So I created a business that allowed people, even from a distance, to create magical moments of sentimental recognition with those they love. 

The business became lifeslittlerecipes.co.uk.

Life’s Little Recipes are on a mission

So, before we knew it, LLR was up and running. It’s unique mission is to facilitate people in their desire to show someone that they’re special, loved and recognised. We provide that connection.  Next, we needed a product range. It had to include items that would instantly form a bond, a connection between the recipient and the sender. They must be gifts that could be kept and that would allow the recipient to know that others were thinking of them, that they are wanted, missed, treasured and loved. The gift needed to raise a smile too. We wanted a metaphor in physical form. A unique artisanal collection of evocative items, that would amplify the sender’s sentiments. 

Out of these requirements the Recipe bag was born…

What’s in a Recipe Bag?

Our Recipe bags are an innovative concept. They’re a collection of items, 6 ‘ingredients’, individually curated to evoke a feeling within the recipient. Put together they do something enchanting, they convey a sentimental message through the post. 

Receiving a Recipe bag is the closest thing to a hug that will ever drop through your letterbox. 

Why send a Recipe Bag?

There are times when words just don’t cut it. 

Sometimes you want to send a thought or a feeling that doesn’t really fit into sentences. Our Recipe bags are all about recognising the recipient, really seeing them. They create a moment that’s almost magical, it tells whoever receives it that they are special and loved. Of all the people on the planet, the sender was thinking of them. If you’re the recipient, the Recipe bag is a celebration of the ‘You-ness’ of you.

What do people say after receiving a Recipe Bag?

Put simply, our customers are enchanted. That’s no accident. We carefully curate the contents of our Recipe bags to ensure the process of opening them, of discovering what’s inside, is magical. At first, the ingredients within a Recipe bag evoke a feeling of wonder. Happy emotions follow as the recipient feels an authentic sentimental connection with the sender. They feel recognised and loved as they see the message that’s been specifically chosen for them. Finally, the lingering feeling of comfort and wellbeing that stays with the recipient of a Recipe bag is, we firmly believe, the next best thing to physically being there with the sender. 

Has our mission changed?

No. 

We are, and always will be, a facilitator of sentimental moments. We are the creators of experiences where the unsaid is spoken, where love is shared, where people are recognised and where smiles are infectious. 

These occasions, to those sharing them, are more precious than gold. 

SO, WHAT IS A RECIPE BAG ANYWAY?

The answer is simple and complex. It’s a bag filled with magical recognition. It’s a loving moment in time, a future memory and a precious hug that knows no geographical boundaries. 

These bags are our Little Recipe for making someone’s day a little brighter. 

Take care x

Fiona 

Fiona Thomas, founder of Life’s Little Recipes and creator of Unimole.