2021 Holiday Gift Guide

It is officially the lead up to the most festive season of the whole year! I don’t know about you guys but Christmas and New Year’s are definitely my favourite holidays of the year. I think it’s something about being able to spend time with family and friends. It comes after a pretty dark month for a lot of people and I mean for those of you in Canada, waking up on Christmas morning and seeing snow, and the tree, how could you not love it.

That being said, I know the holiday season can also be a very stressful time for a lot of people. From figuring out who you have to get gifts for to the anxiety surrounding how busy stores and malls are around the holiday season. Working in the mall has given me a whole new perspective on how busy the mall can be. I wanted to mention that if malls during the holidays are something you find overwhelming, I wanted to just say that the least busy times are during the weekdays. For those of you who work, it may not be possible to go during the day, then I would suggest maybe shopping from local stores in your area or shopping online.

Shopping local is really important, supporting small creators is something everyone can do and something that might make your holiday shopping a bit easier. Some of you might be asking yourself, why support local or small creators? Some of these small businesses are run by people who’s whole lives are focussed on running their business. One of the big topics up for discussion when it comes to buying at craft fairs or online is “why are things so expensive?” Small businesses have to make their products, and make a profit from their sales. They aren’t these big corporations who can buy products from manufacturers who then sell their products to businesses for cheaper, allowing their markup on products to go up. But, enough technicalities. The moral of the story is to shop local and support local creators!

The other thing I wanted to talk about is the idea that maybe a physical gift isn’t always required. Some of the best gifts that I’ve gotten have been experiences rather than objects. I’ll come back to this, but I think if you want to take someone out to dinner, or have them over for dinner and make them a really nice meal at home that is a fantastic gift idea. Just remember that something small can go a long way.

Let’s talk about gifts being a surprise. I definitely think gifts can totally not be a surprise. If you want to ask someone what they want, or talk to your partner about going in on a gift together I think that’s totally okay. Sure surprises can be a lot of fun, but if you’re worried about getting something they won’t like, then ask them what they want.

Money is something that can be a very uncomfortable topic for people to talk about. It can also be a huge catalyst for stress during the holiday season. I wanted to mention a few ways that you can save this holiday season. A couple ideas might be:

Make dinner/ a meal together

I think making a meal together can be a lot of fun! You can make something super special that you wouldn’t make on just a regular day.

Painting Night/Craft night

If you’re looking for a fun activity to do together or in a small group, painting is always something fun to do because there are no limits. You can throw a movie on in the background, catch up with friends while cracking open a bottle of wine and sit and paint!

Picnics

Picnics are great! Over the past year or so, I’ve done so many picnics with friends and family. They’re a great way to spend time together and take the stress off of one person. Everyone can bring something and throw it together and enjoy it with your friends, family or partner.

Go Skiing!

For those of you who live somewhere a little colder, going skiing with a group or with just one person can be a lot of fun. Bring lunch and spend a day skiing with your friends!

I think the moral of the story here is that you don’t have to spend money on one thing for people. Spend it creating an experience for your friends and family. It can help save a lot of money, and create a meaningful day for your loved ones. One last idea might be to pitch in a bit of money with a group of people to go in on a gift for someone. I know for my family, my siblings and I frequently pitch in on a gift for our parents, our grandmother or even each other. I think it’s really important to have an open conversation about gifts. Whether that be about setting a budget with friends and family for how much you spend on each other, or planning a day with them. Sure it might be a bit of an awkward conversation but definitely something that might help save you some money!

Now let’s talk about a gift guide for 2021’s holiday season. For those of you who do want to spend a bit on some people you love and care about, I've come up with a really short list of some gift ideas. These are gifts that might help if you’re having trouble finding something for someone, or need some stocking stuffers for your family. Now some of these I might be a little bit biased towards, but they truly are amazing gifts for people that I am definitely getting for some of the people in my life. Here’s a small list of gift ideas from small but always growing companies that I highly suggest you shop at this holiday season!

Bathorium

So, I definitely might be biased towards this suggestion because I now work for the company. But when I tell you these are the SUPERIOR replacement to any other bath company. Bathorium is CRUSHING the game when it comes to their products. Bathorium uses super natural ingredients, made in Canada (most products made in the Kanata warehouse), certified organic extracts, fragrance and phthalate free, not tested on animals all while using recycled materials. Bathorium is currently doing a pop-up in Ottawa’s Rideau Centre until the end of February. Definitely worth checking out!

With TONS of options that make great gifts I wanted to talk about a few that really stand out that would make the perfect gift this holiday season.

Hinoki Magnesium Bath Flakes

From the plains of Tibet, Hinoki provides an incredible bath experience. Creating soft aromatics that bring you to a relaxing state, Hinoki is great to help ease muscle pain and transforms your bath water giving you the most tranquil, meditative bath experience.

Aphrodite Bath Bomb

For those of you who like a fun, relaxing, decadent bath, Aphrodite is the perfect bath bomb to enhance your bath. Named after the goddess of love and beauty, this bomb is North America’s largest bath bomb. Topped with Israeli dried rose petals that are known for being the most fragrant roses in the world and with notes of wild Bulgarian rose, deep chocolate and rich vanilla this is the perfect bath bomb for special occasions, holidays, or just a simple self-care weekend evening.

Konjac Sponges

Konjac sponges are made from konjac root. A fabulous replacement for your standard plastic loofah. Contrary to your standard loofah that traps bacteria inside them as they dry, as Bathorium’s konjac sponges dry, their material pushes out any dead skin cells, or bacteria that might be trapped inside of them. Bathorium carries two different kinds of sponges. One that’s baked in charcoal that allows for a great buff for your skin all while not being too abrasive. The other sponge has a walnut shell exfoliating side that allows for a gentle exfoliation for your skin and a regular konjac sponge side.

Snapture This

Snapture This is a small coffee focussed company based out of Toronto. Run by Monica, this small business is one that I’ve shopped at and absolutely fallen in love with the products. If you’re a coffee lover like me, you would know that finding non-tacky coffee related apparel, tote bags, mugs etc. can be really challenging. This small business solves all those problems for you! With a bunch of different products, you’re guaranteed to find something for someone you’re shopping for. Let’s talk about some of my favourites.

Drink Coffee Line

As an avid coffee drinker, this line Monica has created is DEFINITELY a fave. You can get the design on hoodies or t-shirts and they are the perfect, simple coffee related piece of clothing. I have the t-shirt and it is one of my favourite shirts I have. Super comfortable material, and really true to size.

Greeting Cards

If you’re looking for a simple card design, you’re bound to find one here. There are dozens to choose from, all unique, not tacky either. I would highly recommend checking these out.

Tote Bags

Tote bags are definitely under-rated and something that I think everyone should have. They make for perfect bags to bring to markets, light grocery shopping, or if you’re like me and need to bring a few things to work but don’t want to bring a whole backpack, tote bags are the way to go. Snapture This offers tons of unique designs that are super cute and a great size.

Red Door Provisions

Red Door Provisions is a small coffee shop in the Rockcliffe/New Edinburgh area of Ottawa. Run by Lauren who is by far one of the coolest people I know, Red Door is the place to go this winter for grilled cheeses and some incredible coffee. They not only serve coffee, baked goods, a selection of incredible pantry items, a small selection of craft beers and wine, and a few lunch options, they also have some goodies that you can buy frozen to bake at home. Red Door’s staff is also an incredible team of people that are super friendly and so much fun to be around! You’re probably thinking, okay how can this possibly be a gift idea. I’ve come up with a few ways you can gift some of the things from Red Door this holiday season.

Gift Cards

Gift cards are always an incredible gift. It’s a great way for people to be able to choose products or things that they like from the company.

Frozen goods

Red Door has so many cool frozen goods that are perfect during the winter, from cookies that you can bake at home, to loafs that are delicious for a snack you’re definitely going to find something for someone you’re buying a gift for.

Fun Snacks

Red Door offers a selection of pantry/snack items on their shelves. Picking up a few of these would make the best addition to a stocking, or to add to a gift basket. From chips to wine to homemade preserves there’s something for everyone.

That brings me to the end of my gift guide for this year! I would highly recommend checking out these businesses. The next blog post will be coming next week, and if you’re looking for more to read, you can check out some of the older blog posts here as well. I hope you guys have/have had an amazing Black Friday!

- K