2013 Holiday Gift Guide + reader giveaway!!
This year I have teamed up with a few of my favorite Seattle merchants and bloggers to share with you some fantastic holiday gift ideas. Having grown up with our family's livelihood depending on the success of my father's small business; I firmly believe in doing my part to support local small businesses. I prefer to buy products from people who believe in what they are selling and love what they are is doing. Also, I am a big proponent of reducing my carbon footprint and this philosophy extends to my gift giving as well.
For this gift guide I asked two of my fellow bloggers to compile two very different lists. Let me introduce you to Amanda and Adina. Amanda is the talent behind Three Bad Seeds, a modern heirloom company specializing in adorable wool pillows and Adina is the founder of Gluten Free Travelette who knows all the best gluten free places to eat at along with all sorts of travel spots extraordinaire. Amanda put together a Five under $50 list and Adina pulled together her Favorite Camping/Hiking stocking stuffers.
I decided to join in on the fun and share a few of my favorite made in Seattle gifts. I have teamed up with the following Seattle vendors to offer you the opportunity to win each of these items. Three readers will have the opportunity to win one of the following prizes:
- One set of personalized letterpress notecards from Dahlia Press
- One Pine Cone Tea Towel from Wallingford Co.
- One set of two handmade tea towels from LoveDaniella
See entry details at the bottom of the Holiday Gift Guide.
Lisette's Favorite Made in Seattle Gifts:
1. Tea Towels by LoveDaniella
A little bit about LoveDaniella from its founder Daniella:
"My passion for creating home goods, which exude both warmth and elegance, stems from a love of family, community and people. I take pride that my work is created on a small scale in my home, rather than in a factory or industrial setting. Each heirloom piece is made my hand, by me, using quality craftsmanship and techniques.
My individualized pieces effortlessly set the mood for the life lived within you home. Each heirloom piece is made with intention and great care."
2. Pinecone Tea Towel by Wallingford Co.
A little bit about Wallingford Co. from its founder Kristin:
"Wallingford Co. was born from a love of printmaking I developed while I was in design school in Virginia. There was this old carriage house with letterpress equipment near my school that had fallen into disrepair, and my friends and I revived it. We waded through buckets of mismatched lead type in our spare time, and eventually restored all of the pieces to their rightful type chests. As a result, the school took note, relocated the equipment into the design building, and started offering classes on letterpress and screen printing.
Having my own print shop and line of home goods has been on my mind for years, but it wasn’t until I relocated to Seattle about a year and a half ago that I really decided to buckle down and make it happen.
My designs usually come from my adventures here in Washington or abroad. I will be out hiking and find some brilliant pattern in nature, I’ll snap a photograph of it, then blow it up on my screen and really dive into the intricacies to figure out what makes it special. Sometimes it’s the whole thing, or sometimes just an element of it. Once I’ve got this, I craft my pattern and then transfer it to positive film to be exposed onto a screen. Pulling the ink through the screen onto the final surface is probably the most rewarding aspect of what I do. It’s the defining moment of whether a design is going to be successful or not. Then I cut and sew each piece by hand and create the perfect packaging for it.
For me, nothing can match the feeling of designing and creating a piece by hand from start to finish. There is something very gratifying about owning every step of the process that went into making it. That has always been the thing about this that makes me giddy and why I could never be completely fulfilled working for someone else."
3. Personalized Letterpress Note Card Set by Dahlia Press
A little bit about Dahlia Press from its founder Stephanie:
"The seeds for Dahlia Press were planted in the spring of 2008 when designer Stephanie Clarke first fell in love with "Pearl" - a 100-year-old Golding Pearl printing press. With 600lbs of cast iron, and numerous accolades from bride and lifestyle magazines at her side, Stephanie grew Dahlia Press into a "must-have" resource for those who appreciate the rare art of letterpress correspondence.
Now Dahlia Press is in full bloom - creating unique letterpress and digitally printed works that blend high-quality design with a clean, fresh aesthetic. From formal invitations to social cards to birth announcements, each one-of-a-kind design will beautifully reflect your individual style and delight anyone receiving your thoughtful message. Dahlia Press's work has been featured in both print and online magazines around the globe.
In addition to her passion for letterpress, creator Stephanie Clarke is an accomplished commercial designer. Over the last eight years, she has created effective and compelling graphic identities, logos, interior environments and websites for many of Washington’s top companies."
Amanda's Favorite Five Under $50 Gifts:
1. Pie Box by Pie Box
2. Cat Nap Pillowcases by Xenotees
3. Adventure Sea Salt by Beautiful Briny
4. Sheep cards by Wallingford Co.
5. Stoneware Salt Center by Nelle Design
Adina's Favorite Hiking/Camping Stocking Stuffers:
1. Homemade Jerky by Lokifish
2. Jersey Knit Infinity Scarf by Yellow 108
3. Hand knit hat by purlBKnit
4. Wool Socks by Smart Wool
Contest Rules:
1. To enter leave a comment stating what item on this Holiday Gift Guide is at the top of your list and why.
2. Three comments will be selected at random to win one of the three Made in Seattle prizes above.
3. Comments must be made my midnight PST on Monday, December 9th. Winners will be announced Tuesday, December 10th. Good luck and Happy Shopping!!
