Hanukkah is this month with the first night of candle starting Dec. 22 and ending the 30th. But it is never too soon to start planning for your holiday season gift shopping. Aiming to give you gift suggestions for a variety of ages, backgrounds and price-points, as a follow-up to my recent “Black Friday” round-up, below are 18 more Holiday 2019 gift and/or brand suggestions.
Art 4 All Hats
Art 4 All offers adjustable, snapback hats that feature gorgeous, Western landscape-inspired original artwork. These hats are both fun and somewhat-mysterious while also keeping the sun out of your eyes. Abby Paffrath, a Breckenridge, Colorado native, is the artist behind these hats. As largely inspired by both her love of the Colorado mountains and her time spent in Bali. When not in her studio, Paffrath works as an art educator for a Jackson Hole, Wyoming-based nonprofit group called pARTners.
Meat Handler & Shredder by The Grommet
Meat-shredding claws – a.k.a. “bear paws” — are often imitated, but Meat Handler & Shredder are the real deal, durable and made in the U.S.A. Its 6 super-sharp prongs easily shred meat, and offer a great grip to lift large roasts or turkeys, holding them stable when carving. Their minimal, ergonomic design is easy to grip and easy to clean, with almost nowhere for bits of food or juices to hide. Yet another great home product from The Grommet.
Calphalon Precision Heat Espresso Machine With Grinder
The Calphalon Espresso Machine with Grinder uses precise grinding and even heating to create the perfect tasting espresso. Its integrated conical burr mill grinder features 30 adjustable grind settings for fresh espresso with every use. The brewing system features thermoblock heating technology and PID temperature control to evenly heat during espresso extraction, combined with gentle pre-infusion, which blooms the espresso grounds at the beginning of the extraction. Also available from Calphalon are the Calphalon ActiveSense Blender and the Calphalon IntelliCrisp 2-Slot Toaster. These and other great offerings are now available via Amazon.
Fresh N’ Lean Meals
Fresh N’ Lean is reportedly the #1 organic meal delivery company in the United States. Laureen Asseo is the 28-year-old founder and CEO of the company, which she founded at the age of 18 in her one-bedroom apartment. Currently it operates out of a 55,000-square-foot facility with hundreds of employees. The company offers a variety of meal-delivery options, and let’s face it, who wouldn’t love the gift of regularly receiving delicious food you don’t have to cook or clean up after?
LuminAID
LuminAID, the latern tech group that formed following the earthuake in Haiti, is on a mission to give back with each purchase, and through its flagship Give Light Get Light program, LuminAID solar lights have been distributed in over 100 countries around the world. By sponsoring a light for a family in need, supporters earmark a solar lantern or solar phone charger to go directly to the organization of their choice. More than 50,000 solar lights have been sent to families through the Give Light Get Light Program. The recipient will enjoy receiving a gift that not only makes them feel good but is doing good for others around the globe. Charity angle aside, some of LuminAID’s lanterns are “2-in-1,” operating as both a solar-powered lantern and phone charger.
Kinsho Kitchen
Kinsho Kitchen makes fun lunchware for tasty treats. With its new Lunch Tote, you can easily pack a beautiful meal with an appealing presentation. Its new bento boxes also add health into the equation, perfectly-portioning meals for diners of all ages. Kinsho’s products are made of eco-friendly plastic, while its bento boxes are BPA-free and provide double-walled, air core insulation.
White Leaf Provisions
The husband and wife team of Keith and Meghan Rowe created White Leaf Provisions taking on the sugary problems of today’s baby food. With the belief that healthy soil equates to healthy food, White Leaf is a family-run business which brings the first 100% U.S. regeneratively-grown and manufactured biodynamic, organic and GMO-free baby food to retail in the U.S. Their farmers follow a truly organic approach to farming, promoting biodiversity and letting mother nature take the lead in every aspect of their fruits life. Most importantly, the food is formulated with a child’s palate and nutritional needs in mind.
BloChair
BloChair makes instant chairs that can be inflated for use anywhere. These inflatable chairs are comfortable like a beanbag, yet strong enough to easily hold a 250-pound person. Absolutely great for relaxing no matter the locale.
Out Of The Woods Bags
Out Of The Woods bags answer the consumer demand for products to be more environmentally and ethically-centered. The brand’s sleek and functional collection of food-centric and everyday bags are made from Supernatural Paper, a washable, renewable, lightweight material derived from paper that matches the strength and aesthetics of leather while being 100 percent animal-free. For the holidays they are offering a variety of great cooler bags, lunch bags and wine totes – all under $30! My favorite offering is the Out Of The Woods Dolphin Cooler, which has a large front pocket that is a handy space for stash or personal belongings in addition to its high-quality webbing and thick Supernatural Paper handle grips.
Pop Culture Died In 2009
THNK994 is the team behind the Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan 1994 Museum and such pop-up exhibits as Anna Wintour Double-Crossing Her Legs and Goddess: The Exhibit. That THNK1994 team recently teamed up with influencer Pop Culture Died in 2009 to create a limited-edition capsule clothing collection for the holiday season. The collection includes a The Cropped Pool Water Hoodie and matching Pool Water Leggings, t-shirts and beanies bearing amusing slogans. The deadline for the final round for ordering is Dec. 30.
Loveless Café Gift Sets
Nashville Tennessee’s historic Loveless Cafe is known for its world-famous biscuits and also for serving over 500,000 food enthusiasts, locals, out-of-town guests and celebrities each year. As with last year, Loveless Café is keeping up its tradition of offering exciting subscriptions and holiday-themed items. Among the current offerings from the Nashville staple are its Jammin Biscuits Gift Set (which includes a 2-pound bag of Biscuit Mix and assorted fruit preserves), its Pumpkin Butter and its Sweet Sentiments Spatula and Tea Towel.
Ekster Wallets
After raising over $1,000,000 in its previous crowd-funding campaign, Ekster — the world’s largest smart wallet brand — has launched its third-generation product line. This time they have engineered both the slimmest and the first voice-activated smart wallet to date. Owners can now ring their wallet, find it on a map or even make use of the widespread Chipolo community to help locate their missing belongings. These RFID-blocking wallets are held together by handcrafted premium leather for a luxury look and feel and provide instant card access at the click of a button. They are also compatible with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. Ekster’s solar technology is now even being implemented by major global shipping companies like Fedex to track containers. Its new limited-edition Metro 52 line is absolutely worth looking into.
Solo New York
Sporty, versatile, and super-light, the Solo Leroy Rolling Duffel meets carry-on requirements for most major airlines, making it the ideal piece of luggage for a holiday trip. It boasts features like two front zippered pockets, a separate shoe/laundry compartment, push-button telescoping handle system, and easy-glide wheels; all while having a sleek and stylish design. Also great from Solo is the Solo Grand Travel TSA Backpack, priced at $99.99, which ought to make going through airport security a breeze.
OMG Accessories
Those seeking a carry-bag of a more light-hearted nature ought to look into the OMG Accessories brand. The trend-driven brand for kids and teens recently added Unicorn Backpacks, Crossbodies, Wallets, and Rolling Luggage to its holiday collection. The ingenuity of OMG Accessories can be found in thousands of retailers around the world, including Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, Macy’s, Dillards, and Von Maur. CEO Anne Harper founded the company in 2009, which reportedly has millions of customers.
Tavour
Washington State-based Tavour is a company that tries thousands of beers from small craft breweries, ultimately bringing you the gems you cannot get at your local store. In turn, Tavour works directly with hundreds of independent breweries to curate craft beer gift boxes with one-of-a-kind selections. With selections as diverse as the Vanilla Ice Cream Stout from Wild Leap Brew Co. in Georgia and the Juicy IPA from WeldWerks Brewing in Colorado, a Tavour purchase may be ideal for any sort of gift offering.
Mileo’s Elixir Oud
Elixir Oud is a luxury facial oil harnessing the anti-aging powers of Oud and purity of 3000 flowers in every bottle. Due to its small particle size, it feels light like a serum, but moisturizes intensely like a cream due to its heavy molecular weight. It can be applied to the facial area on its own, or with other products, like a serum and/or cream. All of itsingredients are organically-cultivated, wild-crafted, and/or ethically farmed. Thus, Mileo products are 100 percent pure, chemical-free, and pesticide-free.
JLAB Audio’s JBuds
Founded in 2005, JLab Audio is an award-winning designer of personal audio products including Bluetooth earbuds, headphones and speakers. Not only famous for its intuitive products with awesome sound for people on the move, JLab’s products are also renowned for coming with world-class customer support. JLab’s JBuds Air family of products have been called the “#1 True Wireless Earbud under $100.” Aside from being truly wireless via Bluetooth technology and in-ear comfort, expect up to 6 hours of usage on a single charge and sweat protection.
Chefclub’s Kiddoz
Chefclub is the world’s leading producer of entertaining recipe video. Its Kiddoz kit comes with 6 clever measuring cups, a 20-recipe cookbook, and additional recipes that are available via the app. The measuring cups and cookbook work together to create a new cooking language, simple enough for kids to use on their own and fun enough for everyone to enjoy. When combining the kit with the mobile app and videos, the entire cooking experience becomes interactive and engaging for kids and easy for families to enjoy together.
The Night Sky
Thanks to The Night Sky, you can give a gift of the stars. The Night Sky makes an incredible memorable gift that will be treasured for years to come, as The Night Sky makes it easy to create an 18″ x 24” star map of any memorable occasion. The unique and personalized star map is printed on high-quality, Art Matte paper with over 190-gram weight. You can choose from 8 different styles at any place or time in the world to memorialize the night that your heart skipped a beat. I personally have a framed map made by The Night Sky on my dining room wall to commemorate my 2017 wedding.
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