Wednesday, November 21, 2018

2018 Holiday Gift Guide

Welcome to the 2018 Redolent Mermaid Holiday Gift Guide.


As the giving time of year approaches, I wanted to highlight some of my favorite small business, artisan and independent creators along with their fabulous wares that I have tried and adore. Click on the vendors' names like always to be taken to their store. I have only recommended those items that can be purchased easily at the time of this writing.

Artisan Fragrances

Arcana Wildcraft creates many of my staple scents. My personal favorites ($23 each): Holy Terror, Bonfires at Dusk, Filthy Viking, The Huntress (all natural), Devilish and Cake Lust.

Nocturne Alchemy's Studio Limited line houses some of the most exquisitely crafted aromas. Ones that would make beautiful gifts ($29 each): Crystalline, Santalum, Tibetan Crystalline, Bloodstone Dark, Ember, Pyramid Santalum, Hessonite and Moonstone.

Solstice Scent's 10 pack perfume sampler for $30 makes a thoughtful fragrant gift. You can choose any scent you think would appeal to the person upon whom you are bestowing but here are some of my Solstice Scent stars: Manor, Basilica, Vanilla Pipe Tobacco, Gibbon's Boarding School, Foxcroft, Night Watcher, Pinyon Truffle and Lavender Vanilla.


Bath & Body 

Latherati is a company I tried from a Sihaya & Company box. I loved the body lotion. These bookish scents make lovely gifts. Julie currently has bath, body and personal fragrance items based upon the Nutcracker which is perfect for this time of year and the new movie that just released. Some of my picks are: Sugar Plum Fairy body lotion ($8) which showcases sweet almonds and musk,  Mouse King soap ($6) that sparkles with fruity citrus and melons and is grounded by light oakmoss, and the perfume and body gloss companions would be nice as well. Drosselmeyer (caramel, leather, tobacco and sandalwood) sounds like a warm and cozy scent as well. 

B. Perry Soaps at Sihaya & Company would be an indulgent gift for the bar soap lover. I have tried and adore the Dangerous Places soaps ($15) and I am eyeing up the Pumpkin Spice Latte ones ($10) pretty hard. I also recently bought the Arcana Haint version and cannot wait to tear into it.

If you have a bath lover in your life then a "Most Wanted" bundle set of CBD infused bath bombs from Life Flower Care would be the ultimate gift ($60). These bath bombs have become my very favorite. The addition of botanicals and crystals along with nourishing and healing essential oils makes these a wonderful experience. 


Bookish Gifts

I never really understood the practicality of book sleeves until I began using them myself. Book Beau's sleeves are brilliant. I enjoy the button and loop closure, the four sizes and the whimsical fabrics. They range from $15 to $30 depending on the size. These keep my books in nice condition when they are tumbling around in my purse or bag. Tucking a book inside would be a thoughtful gift.

Bookish candles from Wick & Fable make nice treats for bookworm buddies. It is easy to find cozy scents in pretty much any fragrance genre within each fandom, from herbal and fresh to spicy or gourmand. They are currently having their BOGO 1/2 off candle sale on their 8 ounce sizes. You can grab two nice sized candles for $27 when they are normally $36. 

Book plates and accessories from Sunshine & Ravioli would stuff nicely within a book as a gift. I have purchased and enjoy the Mermaid bookplates for $9.95, they can be customized as well for $11.95. 


Nature's Apothecary

For all natural desires, I love King's Road Apothecary. Rebecca wild harvests and brews all her own products that are meant for healing of the mind, body and soul. I have tried a vast array of her products through her Surprise Boxes. She makes tinctures, elixirs, digestives, slaves, ointments, teas, bath soaks, body oils and more. I particularly enjoy her Deep Woods body oil ($26), Deep Forest tea ($16) and the big ticket gift, a Surprise Box ($56). Honestly, there hasn't been anything from Rebecca that I have not loved. 

Mandy Aftel at Aftelier is a wonderful source of finely made natural products for the body and kitchen and they always come packaged with vibrant beauty. Perfect for gift giving. I have tried and loved Mandy's Face Elixirs, Body Oils, perfumes, teas and Chef's Essences. I highly recommend her Ancient Resins Body Oil ($40), Chocolate Chef's Essence Spray ($24), Vanilla Smoke 2ml perfume ($50) and Mandy's Book Fragrant ($28) along with the Companion Kit ($25) to sniff along with while reading.


Wax Tarts

Of course I cannot have a Holiday Guide without including wax tarts! Wax can be tricky to purchase from some vendors so I am including only tried and true and easy to purchase from vendors.

Ten Digit Creations is always open and always has high quality affordable wax in a plethora of scents. I have gifted Amber's wax many times to friends for their birthdays or Christmas. Currently there are several pages of Ready To Ship scent shots that start at $1.15 for one ounce. 

The Bathing Garden is perfect for gifting too. Shannon makes the most beautiful creations and she always has stock. Her current shipping time is at 2 weeks so there is plenty of time to place an order. Her clamshells are $3.95 and her scrubs start at $9.75. From her current collections I love: Sleepy, Plum Ballet, Crystallized Spearmint and Peppermint, Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, and Yuletide Trimmings.


Artisan Jewelry

Nicole at Arrok always has some amazing hand forged pieces in her shop. If you have friends who wear earrings or necklaces this would be the place to go for real silver and gemstone pieces that are unique and edgy while being utterly wearable. Some stars of the show: Mood Stone earrings ($38.50), Small Bee earrings ($34.50- pictured above), All Seeing Eye necklace ($46.50).

Rachel at Dida Metals offers some lovely and affordable pieces as well. I am a fan of her crescent moon studs ($24 for brass and $30 for silver), her midi ($16) and stacking ($18) rings, and the circle studs with chain fringe earrings ($65). 

Marta Oms is one of my favorite places to buy handmade silver stud earrings. She is currently having a 20% off sale in her Etsy store, makign them even more affordable. Though Marta lives and works in Spain, she ships quickly and inexpensively. Some of my personal favorite pieces are: punk studs ($14.18), mini skull earrings ($14.18), turquoise studs ($18.91) and her mini star earrings ($9.46). 


Pottery

Pitch Pine Pottery is one of my favorite potters. The multitude of hues in the glazes, the whimsically primitive sgraffito and the pure comfort of the pieces speak to me. Tara currently has nine goddess mugs in her shop for around $90 each. 

A handmade ceramic incense burner from Barchilon Ceramics on Etsy would be a nice gift as well. I particularly like my lotus incense burner that was $18. Add a few hand made incense sticks and that would be a nice gift set. 

I enjoy giving gifts that were made with love and passion from talented small business owners. 

Are there any particular gifts you are excited to be gifting this year?

8 comments:

  1. This is a great list. Thanks for sharing! The link for Marta Oms seems to direct to Didi Metals.

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  2. Ooooh, you've got some of my favorites on here. I just purchased some jewelry from Arrok this morning with her 20% off sale. I recently purchased a fox jar from Lee Wolfe Pottery that I can't wait to give my sister....and a raven mug for myself ;).

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    1. Yes! I simple adore Nicole's styling and art. What did you get??? I picked up her Mood Stone earrings and a garnet hand with moon necklace not too long ago. I love that she is having a sale. So many vendors are right now. Perfect time to Christmas shop! Lee Wolfe makes some incredibly beautiful things. She had an owl lantern a while back that I was gaga over. A raven mug!! Sweet! I will have to look on her IG and see if I can spy a picture of it. I would love to own one of her pieces some day. Enjoy your goodies. I am sure your sister will be thrilled!

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  3. I picked up a thistle necklace, mood stone dangle earrings and moonstone dangle earrings. I definitely treated myself! www.leewolfepottery.com is Lee's website - there's another raven mug for sale and a raven luminary that looks to die for <3

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    1. You grabbed some lovely things!! I must have missed her thistle necklaces. I love that Nicole makes a handful of various things and then switches it up. Ok. I totally went and tortured myself and looked at the raven mugs. So freaking cute. Enjoy!!

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  4. Lovely curated gift ideas. I was going to suggest a group gift guide if we planned on doing the full FFS, but we'd have a lot of cross-overs; although that might just reinforce the testimonies for the brands we love. I actually did one for 2017 that was small business/retail but it didn't get many views lol, and I didn't have the energy this year.
    I remember the posts for all of these except your Pitch Pine mug, it's gorgeous. Tara's classic mountain scenes will always be my favorite, I wish for a camp mug but I haven't been fast enough yet. I ordered a custom ring dish for my niece from Callahan's Ceramics and a mug for a friend from TMD Ceramics, it will be hard letting that one go. I grabbed a few book sleeves from In Lumos Libertas for presents, she has some new fun designs up today on sale, and a small personalized piece of jewelry from Little Green Room, oh and a custom wax scent from That Smell Good Shop. That's one area I've slowed down on buying as gifts, I have so much I just give it away. I get excited to give bookish presents and subscription boxes, there are a lot of fun ones out there to explore. Have a nice weekend:)

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    1. Thanks! A group gift guide would have been fun!! I am totally down for anything like that for sure. <3 I think the cross-overs would have definitely reinforced the idea that the products are good and then we would have all our various spins on taste and variety among the vendor that we particularly enjoy. Next year, perhaps? :-) I hope you get your camp mug. I am eyeing up her wax warmers. They look amazing. I need to pick up some book sleeves too for a few friends. Thank you for showing me Lumos Libertas. I love all the handmade goodies you have purchased for friends and family. They will love them I am sure!! My sister recently got into pottery and it is making my heart swell.

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