This Holiday Gift Guide will help you pick the perfect gift for the foodie, wanderluster, hostess with the mostest, and the creative in your life!
When it comes to gift-giving, I follow a minimalist guideline, focusing on experiences, consumables, or items that are useful and/or meaningful. No matter how you approach holiday gifting, remember that quality time goes a long way, and gifts that endure time and memory have the biggest effect.
This post is full of ideas, especially lots of local Austin companies to support!
For the Foodie
Culinary Class
What better experience for a foodie than learning tips and tricks to create incredible dishes? This Austin culinary class list I put together is a helpful guide for class options.
Restaurant Gift Certificate
If your city is like Austin, it has an abundance of restaurants to visit and try. A gift certificate to a new restaurant can help cross a restaurant off the “to-try” list. Barley Swine and Uroko are some of my favorites. I also enjoy Juiceland.
Cookbook
There are so many beautiful cookbooks out there and more come out every year. Locally, check out Thai Fresh: The Cookbook or Franklin Barbecue: A Meat Smoking Manifesto. Some of my other favorites include:
I also love my cookbook stand!
Local Products
Share a unique piece of your city with others. Austin has so many talented food artisans, and food is always a welcome gift. Try these local options:
- Chocolate bars from KESSHŌ
- Whiskey from Still Austin
- Coffee Beans from Greater Goods Coffee Co.
- Honey from Two Hives Honey
Kitchen Tools
Help a foodie up their game in the kitchen with some new or upgraded tools.
- HipStirs is a local Austin company with cocktail kits
- The Elevated Craft Cocktail Shaker is the perfect gift for those who like making cocktails at home
- Some of my favorite kitchen gadgets: hand lemon juicer, food processor, immersion blender, quality wood cutting board, and electric kettle
Tickets to a Food Event
We love our festivals in Austin, and food events happen year-round. Here’s a list of a few of them. From Field Guide Festival to the Texas Monthly BBQ Fest, there’s always an opportunity to eat with other foodies.
Favorite Food Products
Your friends will really love these!
- This almond toffee made in Hico, Texas, is the most crave-able chocolate/candy concoction
- Fishwife tinned fish, so you can host your own tinned fish party
For the Wanderluster
Kindle Fire Tablet
I use my Kindle Fire nearly every day, and it’s a must-have when I travel.
Books, Movies, and More
Feed the wanderlust by gifting travel-themed books, movies, and other media. I have some recommendations in this post. Also, check out my book recommendations on my Bookshop.
Getaway
Give a wanderluster what they want most: the experience of travel. Maybe it’s plane tickets or a hotel reservation. Maybe it’s an excursion (like this one with elephants in Thailand) or a food tour on their upcoming trip.
Scratch Off Map
Help a wanderluster keep track of where they’ve been with a scratch-off map. These come in a variety of colors, and some map out U.S. states and Canadian provinces in addition to countries. See all the options on Etsy.
Photo Book
We take a lot of photos when we travel, but a lot of times, the photos stay on our phone or cloud storage. A photo book is a fun way to reflect, share your memories, and decorate your coffee table. I recommend using Mixbook.
External Charger
A semi-boring but very useful gift for travelers is an external charger.
For the Hostess with the Mostest
Serving Board
Every hostess needs a beautiful serving board to serve cheese or appetizers. Personalize a wood one yourself like we did, or buy a white marble one, great for photos.
Cute Vase or Ceramic Piece
As someone who loves fresh flowers at my celebrations, I recommend a unique vase for your number-one hostess. Bonus points for including a beautiful flower arrangement with the vase.
Succulent, Herbs, or Other Potted Plant
Cut flowers are beautiful, but potted plants last longer. Pick up a succulent or house plant at Succulent Native.
Linens
We are always using dish towels/tea towels in the kitchen. There are many cute ones out there!
Candle
7th Street Candle Co, a local Austin shop, has a great selection of hand-poured candles. One of my favorite scents is the chamomile fig. (They also host candle-making workshops!)
Treats
From jewelry to skincare, give your favorite hostess something for pampering. Some local Austin gift recommendations: SOCO Botanicals Symphony Face Oil, Bejou Skincare, and Amanda Deer jewelry.
Eco-Friendly Cleaning Products
Choose products that are sustainable and cleaner for you. We use Blueland products in our home, specifically the tablets for laundry detergent, dishwasher, toilet bowl, and hand soap.
For the Creative
Creative Workshop
If your city is like Austin, you’ll find class opportunities for a wide variety of interests. Here we can learn how to make a candle or a succulent arrangement, play an instrument, and more. Check out this BIG list of options in Austin.
Local Art
Find a piece of unique art. One thing I’ve noticed about creatives is that they love surrounding themselves with things to inspire their creativity. Here are some of my local favorites:
- My friend Kathyphantastic makes beautiful watercolor items
- Ornaments and cutesy things from Stipple Pop
- Art from: Artful Peaks, Good AM, Catie Lewis, A Lil Scribble
If you’re looking for places to shop for locally created gifts (lots more ideas!), check out:
- 7th Street Candle Co
- Roommate Collective
- Blue Genie Art Bazaar
- Take Heart
- Atown
- The Paper + Craft Pantry
I hope this holiday gift guide gives you some ideas. Happy gifting!
What’s your favorite item to gift? What gift ideas would you add to this list?
Get ready for the holidays with these posts:
You might also like
