Gift guide for the man in your life featuring all small US businesses, shops, and artisans!
It’s been a year. And one of the hardest parts for me has been watching so many small businesses struggle – or worse yet be forced to close their doors. While we’ve been making a huge conscious effort to shop local and small a lot more lately, for the Christmas season Michael and I have made a personal goal to do over 70% of our Christmas shopping from small businesses as our little part.
While I know I’ll still hit up some of the Black Friday sales, I wanted to spend this week highlighting all the amazing things you can get from small businesses. These gift guides are definitely a little more work as I’m researching each individual company, but it’s been SO cool learning about new and amazing small shops out there.
ONE. Rugged and Dapper Face Scrub – Creator, Ryan, was looking for a product to protect his skin from the harsh conditions of his construction job. He tried the top men’s skincare brands but nothing seemed to hold up. So he and his wife Janine began developing a no-nonsense line of skincare products for men. Made in the USA with natural and organic ingredients.
TWO. Fermented Vegetable Kit – This kit is perfect for a foodie, whether they are a first-time fermentor or someone who has done it for years.
THREE. Big Change Enamel Mug – Made by tentree, a company all about sustainable living and helping plant trees. Every piece of their apparel comes with a code you can register and when registered, tentree plants a tree.
FOUR. Office Sweatshirt (no longer available similar here)- For The Office lover in your life. I bought this for Michael last year and he LOVED it. Made by Dawn-Marie from Georgia, who is a full-time banker when she’s not making shirts.
FIVE. Peanut Butter Sampler – Includes 6 different artisan peanut butter flavors. Made by Kathy Weed, who began making artisanal peanut butter to teach her children about having a small business and has since expanded into a much larger peanut-butter-making-venture.
SIX. Fair Isle Socks – These are sold by Sault New England, one of my husband’s favorite shops. I always get asked where Michael shops, and this is one of his go-to’s. They have a Boston and Portsmouth, NH location.
SEVEN. Pullover Crew Sweatshirts – Also from Sault, one of Michael’s favorite items they sell are the pullover crew sweatshirts. They are awesome quality and come in a variety of New England inspired graphics. If unsure, size up one.
EIGHT. Personalized Ceramic Travel Mug – Laura makes beautiful pottery out of Minnesota. Along with this travel mug, she makes other amazing pieces, so definitely check out her entire shop.
NINE. Personalized Leather Toiletry Bag. Handmade in Nevada, these leather toiletry bags are a great gift for any guy. Michael was gifted a similar one years ago and still uses it daily to hold all his stuff.
TEN. Beard Oil – This beard oil is made by Feto Soap, out of Austin, TX, and owned by Lisa Chouinard. She’s been making handmade artisanal soap since 2003 and has won numerous awards as well as had her work featured on HGTV, PBS, Women’s Day, and more! She also makes shaving sets!
ELEVEN. Famous People Felt Ornaments – LOVE this company’s and have already bought a handful of their ornaments for Christmas gifts myself. Each ornament is handmade by craftspeople in marginalized regions with the goal of helping relieve the areas of poverty. During the time the craftspeople are making the ornaments, they aim to help them become self-sustainable by teaching management techniques, quality control, and computer skills. They have TONS of famous people felt ornaments as well as animals and other items.
TWELVE. Micro-dose Hot Sauces – Great for a foodie or hot sauce lover! The founder of this company, Robyn Jasko, accidentally planted too many peppers one year and that’s how she started making hot sauces. These micro-doses include pure pepper extract, a rare, single strain pepper variety, organically grown on her farm which means they don’t have to add a ton of fillers like vinegar to their hot sauces.
THIRTEEN. Baseball Map Glasses – Each set of glasses has a map of your chosen MLB stadium in the team’s two main colors with the team’s logo in the bottom. Made right here in the USA. Baseball not your recipient’s thing? They also have city map glasses and glasses that pay homage to the founding fathers. See their full line here.
FOURTEEN. Handmade Leather Wallet – Handmade in Texas using a traditional two-needle double hand-stitching technique (yep, each one is HAND STITCHED!).
