Gift Guide: Baltimore Small Businesses
I don’t know about you, but this year I’m not at all in the mood to savor the holidays. Probably because we can’t do normal fun holiday things because we’re failures at pandemic response! So I say, let’s get through the end of this wretched, wretched year, look ahead to January 20, 2021, and hope we can all get vaccinated sooner than expected so we can send 2020 down the memory hole into oblivion. Where it belongs.
In holidays past, we’ve strived to give you travel-related gifts, and while we DO hope to travel again in 2021, a travel-related gift right now just feels a little too soon. A little too salt-in-the-wound as those of us who care about *health* are going nowhere for the holidays.
Simultaneously, the economy is in the shitter! In particular, since our legislature is more motivated to cobble together a Supreme Court bent on curbing the rights of basically anyone who isn’t a straight cis white Christian man rather than, say, coming up with another relief package, our small local businesses are suffering. So I’ll be doing my best this year to buy from local small businesses this season, and I’ve rounded up a few of my favorites for you!
DIY Candle Making Kit, KSM Candle Co., $26
KSM (Knits, Soy, & Metal) Candle Company makes the BEST scented candles. My favorite is the cedarwood and oak. KSM also carries other goods that show their impeccable taste, but the coolest gift options is the candle-making kit. They provide the jar, soy wax, fragrance, wick, and even dried flowers to make your candle extra lovely.
Curated Book Bag, Greedy Reads, $30, $50, or $100
Earlier on in the pandemic, my local bookshop Greedy Reads started selling curated book bags. I told them three of my favorite books and my current mood and they put together a perfect stack of books (and tote bag!) for me. This was truly one of the highlights of that awful first few weeks. Later on this year, a colleague got me another curated bag as a “get well” gift. I am speaking from the heart when I say this is possibly one of the best gifts you can buy someone.
Tote Bag, Good Neighbor, $32
When Jen and I went to Paris, one of our favorite stops was to a cafe-and-shop called Merci. We had a delicious lunch there (this is where I discovered I like beets), and then we went shopping. We bought matching bracelets and I bought a perfume I am still sad I finished. So imagine my delight when Good Neighbor opened up in Baltimore with a similar cafe/shop concept and gorgeous taste. Good Neighbor is full of great housewares, blooms, books, and snacks, but I love this tote as a gift. First of all, the sentiment — being a good neighbor — is something I value more than ever right now, and secondly, Good Neighbor is donating $5 from every bag to ShareBaby, who is making sure Baltimore’s most vulnerable young children get the diapers and items they need.
Coffee Gift Box, Thread Coffee Roasters, $30
I have a roaster’s choice monthly coffee subscription to Thread, a local woman-owned, queer-owned coffee roaster. Their coffee is great. I literally start each day with it, so I think a gift box with a bag of coffee, a MICA-designed tee shirt, canvas tote, or “dad hat” is an awesome gift.
I Want to Go Home Tee, Homebody General Store, $25
Also a very relevant sentiment at the moment, though I guess for many of us right now it’s really “I want to leave home…” Still! I love this shirt and I love Homebody General Store in the newly opened Whitehall Mill. If the tee doesn’t do it for you though, definitely check out what else Homebody General has to offer; it is FULL of the beautiful, cozy objects we all want surrounding ourselves as we hunker down (more) this season.
Baltimore Breakfast Tea Blend, Wight Tea Co., starting at $6
A door or two down from Homebody at Whitehall Mill is Wight Tea Company’s first brick and mortar. Wight Tea has been making awesome tea blends in Baltimore for some time now, and I picked this Baltimore Breakfast blend as my gift pick because yay Charm City and yay for black morning tea! (That said, I am also a HUGE fan of the tropical green tea. It is SO good.)
Honey Gift Box, Hon’s Honey, $38
Obviously, your giftee will need some honey to put in their tea, so how about some sustainably sourced delicious local honey? The Hon’s Honey gift box has two bottles of honey, a honey pump, and a sweet little mug. Also, I couldn’t love this small business anymore. Hon’s Honey staffs survivors of gender-based violence, helping these women gain skills, work experience, and financial independence.
OMG! Gift Bag, Mouth Party Caramels, $9
One last sweet treat that’s a good gift for anyone who likes delicious things — the OMG! gift bag by Mouth Party Caramels. I can’t do a better job describing these caramels than they already have in explaining the “OMG!” name: “Well what would you call it?? Our original soft caramel blanketed in smooth milk chocolate and dusted with Fleur de Sel sea salt on top. Yup, thought so.” FLEUR DE SEL SEA SALT, GUYS.
Accepting these gifts at any time this holiday season. DM me for my address. ;)
-Staci
