2019 Holiday
Gift Guide
Well-made, as ethical as possible, and truly beautiful… here are gift ideas that receive Tsh’s hearty praise this year! Support shops and artists that do good work.
(p.s. A few affiliate links are used here, which means at no extra cost to you, we get a small commission when you make a purchase through these links. Thanks for supporting our work!)
Books
At Home in the World
A few years ago I wrote a memoir about my family’s school year traveling around the world, living out of backpacks — a great gift for armchair travelers. Pairs well with a tee in a language you love.
Story Worth
StoryWorth makes it easy (and legit fun) for family members to share stories via weekly emailed story prompts — questions you’ve never thought to ask. Answers are then compiled into a published book.
100 Days to Brave
Help someone spend 100 days discovering they’re braver than they knew and stronger than they thought possible. This 100 Days to Brave Deluxe Edition by Annie F. Downs contains 10 additional bonus days!
Live in Grace, Walk in Love
NYT bestselling author and speaker Bob Goff’s new book, Live in Grace, Walk in Love, leads you through an entire calendar year of meditations on how you can step out in love and confidence in every aspect of your life.
Book of the Month Club: YA Edition
A great gift for the YA fan in your life: a YA Book of the Month subscription. Like the OG version, every month they choose one from five selections, then it’s delivered to their door. I love this.
Spark: A Guide to Ignite the Creativity Inside You
“We all have a bit of creativity inside us, waiting to burn brighter. Sometimes all we need is encouragement.” Spark, a fill-in-the-blank guidebook, written by our Managing Editor, Andrea Debbink, was a 2018 Moonbeam Children’s Book Award Gold Medalist!
Booked: A Traveler's Guide to Literary Locations
If you love following my Literary London trip, make your own literary journey through the pages of this book. I recently sat for hours in my local bookstore with this gem.
The New Yorker Subscription
I’ve always wanted to read this historic magazine regularly, so I’m asking for a subscription this year. Some of our greatest stories have come from these pages.
Full Focus Planner
This is my absolute favorite planner. Makes a great gift for that goal-focused, go-getter (or who wants to be) person you love. Pairs well with an erasable Frixion pen.
Clothing & Shoes
At Home Tee
Tell the world you love the world in one of 18 different languages. Choose from an assortment of tees, tanks, sweatshirts, hoodies, and more.
(tip: I prefer the male tri-blend t-shirt in. medium)
Kids Ruffle Dress
Tea Collection makes fantastic, well-made kids’ clothing, and this simple pullover dress is a great example — pair it with tights and a hair clip. They’ve also got great babywear, sweaters, and pajamas.
Evolution Hoodie
Made from recycled coffee grounds and recycled plastic bottles, this super-soft hoodie has over 20 nifty features for adventuring, but works just as well for curling up on the couch. I love this!
Bombas Compression Socks
I grab my Bomba’s socks out of my drawer before any of my other socks — they’re my fave. And compression socks are a gift for long-haul traveling, training, or for anyone with circulation issues. These come in fun colors!
Long John Pajamas
Allbirds Runners
My two pairs of Allbirds are my go-to everyday shoes — they’re so comfortable. They’ve got plenty of options for men, too … go for the breathable ‘tree’ fabric if you live anywhere warm-ish — cozy without suffocatingly hot.
Dinosaur sweater
So many items from quirky Mod Cloth make me laugh, and this is no exception: it’s a cute sweater for a teen, or really anyone who doesn’t take themselves too seriously. Pairs well with this tote bag.
Jewelry & Accessories
The Moonscape Necklace
Copper & Leather Earrings Set
I have several items from Happy Little Lovelies, and I wear them all the time. These copper and clay earrings come in a variety of colors for a little burst of happy — makes any outfit look more like an outfit, if you know what I mean.
Passport wallet
Tech Backpack for Kids
Now’s a great time to get an affordable backpack for the kids that need ‘em, and Land’s End makes the sturdiest packs that last for years. This tech style provides room for gadgets and laptops — pairs well with a lunch bag and water bottle.
Knit Wool Monkey Hat
Hand-knit and sewn by Nepalese women, this wool hat from Ten Thousand Villages is fleece-lined for extra coziness. This is a fun gift for tweens, teens, and young-at-hearts. (There’s also monkey mittens!)
Food & Drink
Iva Jean's Fudge
Reusable Snack Bags
This set of five reusable sandwich and snack bags are kid and adult-friendly and have tons of uses including travel, makeup, and Christmas cookies. Give a gift that’ll both save money and help the environment by reducing wasteful, single-use plastic bags.
Pourigami Coffee Set
I supported this as a kickstarter earlier this year, and I can’t wait to take it on a long trip — it’s a metal coffee pourover-making device that can fold down into your pocket. Pairs well with a sampler of good beans.
Butcher Box Subscription
For the foodie or hard-to-buy-for person on your list, a Butcher Box delivers high-quality cuts of meat to your doorstep in an insulated frozen box (we loved our steaks!). Choose from over 20 different cuts of beef, pork, and chicken — and right now they have a special “bacon for life” gift with every new membership.
Wine Bundle or Subscription
Cast Iron Skillet
A good cast iron skillet is a foundational staple for a working kitchen, and Lodge is one of my favorite brands and it comes foundry seasoned. Great for a budding home cook, it pairs well with the new 20th-anniversary edition of one of my go-to cookbooks.
Grooming
Phlur Fragrance
If you listen to my podcast, you already know my die-hard love for Phlur. Just trust me on their high-quality, non-toxic approach to fragrances, and give either Hepcat, Moab, or Olmstead & Vaux. Great for any gender.
Sleep Well Gift Set
Travel Shave Gift Set
Coffee Tangerine Scrub
UpCircle’s Coffee Body Scrub with Tangerine is made with top-quality coffee grounds sourced from artisan coffee shops. It also includes sea salt, coconut oil, grapefruit, and shea butter for killer moisture and post-scrub hydration. Sustainably made with reused and repurposed ingredients and packaging.
Holiday Footcare Set
Plant Therapy’s beloved peppermint lotion is paired with a wood foot massager and holiday fuzzy socks in a custom box for a great cozy gift for that hard-to-buy-for person on your list. (This is also my go-to brand for top-quality, affordable essential oils.)
Coconut Milk Bath Soak
I love the Herbivore brand, and their coconut vanilla milk bath is like a mini-spa in your own bathtub. Leaves your skin feeling silky-smooth with a pleasant-but-not-overpowering scent. (They also make a nice charcoal soap bar.)
Skin Care Gift Set
Home
Match Striker + Holder
A handcrafted ceramic match holder from Tiny Hands Pottery that includes a clay striker zone, this is beauty and functionality on collision. Matches are included. They’re giving you free shipping when you order two or more; automatically applied at check out. Offer good until 12/13/19.
Artist Pad Collection
This Artist Pad Collection from Legion is a set of twelve 9×12 drawing and watercolor pads, including the renowned Stonehenge, Lenox, Yupo and Stonehenge Aqua papers. This high-quality set offers every artist a delightful range of untouched, unrivaled and sometimes unexplored surfaces.
Gift Box for a Grieving Friend
If you’re struggling to know what to give a loved one dealing with grief and loss right now, this box is it: this thoughtfully curated box includes a journal, candle, mug, herbal tea, pencils, and more. So much better (and more practical) than flowers. Enter code SIMPLE for 10% off.
Custom House Portrait
Homesick Candle
Personalized Stationery
Personalized stationery is a throwback (in a good way) to when we wrote with our hands and put stamps on envelopes. That makes the impact of a handwritten note even bigger — give this set of stationery with a pack of pretty stamps.
Copper Bartender Set
Made from artisans in India, this five-piece bar set is made with hand-carved shesham wood handles and includes a muddler, double jigger, strainer, stirring spoon, and bottle opener. Pair it with a set of moscow mule mugs.
Flat Wrap as Art
Here me out: artisan-quality flat gift wrap makes fantastically affordable framed art, and I love the selection from Paper Source. Cheese! National Parks! The Solar System! Sign Language! All so fun. (I use them with Ikea’s Ribba frame series.)
Toys, Games, & Fun
Artist Mini-Pad Set
Embroidery Kit
Bark Box
It’s a gift subscription for your dog and/or dog fan! Every BarkBox has at least two innovative toys, two all-natural bags of treats, and a chew, curated from each month’s unique themed collection. Ginny, our beloved family dog, loved hers.
Mechanical Music Box
Arts & Crafts Supply Library
Custom Memory Game
Ancestry Gift Subscription
Game of Phones
DIY Miniature Library
Okay, I legit want this — build a miniature model of a library (or a greenhouse, or garden, or coffee shop) filled in amazingly intricate details. Gah! The adorableness, I can’t stand it.
Stocking Stuffers
Enamel Pins
Nerdy in all the right ways, these enamel pins are fun decor for backpacks and beyond — Mister Rogers, Shakespeare, Marie Curie, and more.
USB-Rechargable Book Light
Coconut Gel Mask
This four-pack of coconut water-infused face masks hydrate dry winter skin; it’s a fun skincare treat to share with others (maybe paint each other’s nails while you wait).
Sky Tops
Fix-It Kit
Cord Organizers
These are useful cord organizers that tidy tangled messes and help you keep track of those easily-losable little guys.
Event Tickets
Famous Finger Puppets
Stick these weirdly funny finger puppets to the top of stockings and get a laugh — everyone from Bob Ross to Harriet Tubman to Schrödinger’s Cat and more.
Contributor’s Favorites
Andrea
These limited edition mugs from Best Made were inspired by Benjamin Franklin’s precept of Order. Each offers an inspiring reminder to do whatever good we can in our daily lives.
Christine
Adorning the Dark by Andrew Peterson is “…a memoir of Andrew’s journey and a handbook for artists, written in the hope that his story will provide encouragement to others stumbling along in pursuit of a calling to adorn the dark with the light of Christ.”
Crystal
Board games like Forbidden Island, Carcassone, or Ticket to Ride are Crystal’s go-to gifts for the holidays.
Caroline
After noticing several of my friends post on their social media about Sarah Bessey’s latest book, Miracles and Other Reasonable Things, I knew I had to get my hands on a copy. It is a stunning story that brought tears to my eyes on more than one occasion, which is no easy task for me. This book will be on my gift-giving list this year!
Katherine
This beautifully designed 2020 calendar by Suzanne I. Vinson includes 12 loose calendar pages and 1 print. The calendar pages can be cut down to 5×5 by cutting off the dates, and framed at the end of the year.
A few affiliate links are used here, which means at no extra cost to you, making a purchase by clicking these links helps support this site. Thanks!
(Psst… Want more ideas? You might also want to try our Ethical Shopping Guide.)