Our Holiday Gift Guide is finally here and we’re so excited to share some of our favorite things with you! As always, we’ve tried to create a list from our philosophy of Eat It, Drink It, Burn It and Use It.
This year, we’re not including a Spend It category because the world seems a bit too upside down to recommend going anywhere. But we are including a new Green It category because more and more, we’re committed to reducing our impact on the environment and we want to encourage our followers to do the same.
Check out the list of our favorites!
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Eat It
Who doesn’t love a box of candy? But this isn’t just any ol’ box. This is a collection of the most decadent flavors out there, like Champagne Bubbles and Golden Truffle Eggs. Perfect for when your inner child is screaming for Jelly Bellys and Twizzlers, but your sophisticated adult self is saying, “I’m too old for candy”. The best part is that they come in a fancy metallic gold reusable bento box.
These delicious olive oils are harvested from a farm in California. Brightland has made a commitment to using only the best ingredients with no fillers or artificial preservatives. This would be a next-level gift for the chef or foodie in your life!
This ain’t your grandma’s chocolate people. This is truly a gourmet treat for the sweet tooth on your list. If you need an over-the-top, knock their socks off present, this decadent chocolate variety is it! Hopefully, you can give it to someone who lives with you, that way you may just snag a piece or two for yourself!
As you’ve no doubt read, the bee population is in decline. So if you have a environmentalist on your list and you want to give a meaningful (and delicious) gift, this honey ticks both boxes! Collected on a family farm in NJ, not far from D&D headquarters, it’s unpasteurized and unfiltered so you get all the natural vitamins and minerals that occur with raw honey.
If you want to give the gift of chocolate but the Vosges is out of your price range, get these chocolate oranges! For us, they bring up wonderful childhood memories and they make for the perfect stocking stuffers. Not to mention, slamming them on the table may be just the aggression outlet we all need – thanks 2020.
Speaking of stocking stuffers, these mini jams are the jam (yep, we went there!). 5 different flavors – strawberry, apricot, raspberry, orange marmalade and cherry will keep everyone happy. Add a selection of Wolferman’s Assorted English muffins and you’ll win the day!
Drink It
We’ve recommended Seedlip before and we’ll probably do it again. We can’t get enough of these unique cocktail mixers. They’re a great way for non-drinkers to feel like part of the crowd and the taste is outstanding! They come in a variety of flavors, are calorie free, sugar free and sweetener free. To be honest, we’d probably buy them just for the beautiful bottles 🙂
Looking for a gift that will awe your friends and family? This flowering tea will leave them speechless! It’s so much fun to watch each tea heart unfold while steeping. There’s a huge variety of blooms, flavors and clear glass teapots and tea cups to choose from to create a whole gift set. We may just put a few of these on our wish list!
For the coffee/tea lover on your list who has everything, this Ember mug would be a remarkably well-received gift. It’s temperature controlled with an app, has a battery life of an hour and a half on one charge, and now even comes with a charging coaster. Keep your friends and family toasty with this hi-tech mug!
Green It
With James’ great love of the ocean, doing our part to keep plastic grocery bags out of the sea was a no-brainer. Not only do we bring our reusable grocery bags with us to do our shopping, we also use these produce bags in the store. They’re breathable and have a drawstring top so you don’t have to worry about runaway fruits and veg!
Everyone knows you should drink more coffee water but plastic bottles are a real problem for the planet. We have used and loved our reusable tumblers for a while now and are thrilled with how well they’ve held up. The best part is they come with a lid with a straw for iced drinks and a flip lid for hot ones. Admittedly, they’re more often than not full of coffee but hey, at least we’re not throwing out take-out coffee cups either!
Making a commitment to use cloth napkins has made a huge difference in the amount of paper goods we use. It was an adjustment at first, but now we don’t give it a second thought, especially because we purchased these great cotton napkins. Each 12-pack is plenty to get through several days (depending on the size of your family, of course) and at the end of the day, or even a couple days, just pop them in the wash with your regular clothes and you’ll be good to go!
One of the things we’re most proud of accomplishing in regard to lowering our carbon footprint is reducing our use of plastic in the kitchen. These Stasher bags were a great find and we use them all the time! You can put them in the freezer, microwave, dishwasher, boiling water and even the oven up to 400 degrees. They also have the option of stand-up bags which make filling them a breeze.
Along with our linen napkins, these unpaper towels have practically eliminated our use of paper products. We’re huge fans of The Wild Minimalist company and highly encourage you to check out all of their products. We may or may not have put several of their zero-waste kits on our Christmas list…Santa, if you’re reading 🎅
Burn It
This beautiful candle comes in an elegant reusable mini-vase (how adorable would a little succulent look after the candle is burned?!). The Jonathan Adler website describes this candle as follows:
Smells like: the essence of crisp winter air (pine and evergreen trees, winter berries, cinnamon, clove, a hint of arctic snow)
Feels like: the first snow of the season, shiny bows on wrapped presents, a steaming mug of hot cider, fair isle everything
Really, who could resist?
When it comes to candles, we love a spicy fragrance. These Manly Indulgence candles are right up our alley. If you have someone on your list who shies away from flowery scents and leans more toward the savory side, check out Vintage Oak, 5 O’clock Shadow or Black Pine and Oak Moss to name just a few.
This candle has made our Holiday Gift Guide every single year. It’s a tradition in our homes and we couldn’t love it more! The clean scent really does smell like a freshly cut pine tree and it brings the spirit of Christmas right inside. If you have an artificial tree and miss the delightful smell, buy this candle for yourself!
Use It
We’ve added the Use It category this year because so often we go into our client’s homes and find beautiful items set aside for “one day”. But we highly encourage you to use the nice things you have! Whether it was a gift or something you bought for yourself, don’t stick items away in cabinet or closet and forget you even have them. This soap is an example of what we’re talking about. It’s expensive for a hand soap, but it’s one of our favorite indulgences and it doesn’t serve anyone sitting on a shelf!
Happy Holidays To All Of You!
