Gift giving: Supporting Local Businesses this holiday season

The thought of gift giving can be daunting, especially this particular year. 2020 has definitely been one for the books, and the holidays will certainly look different this year. Although we may not be going around and making visits, we will still be gift giving.

We don’t typically put out articles like this, but we wanted to share some of our favourite holiday home gift ideas from a few local businesses. It is important that we support the small business and not just the big box stores or Amazon, not only this time of year, but always.

Home Decor

Home decor can be tricky if you are not entirely sure about someone’s home aesthetic. However, when you can find unique pieces that serve a function, they will always make a great gift.

Black Rooster Maison

Black Rooster Maison is a one stop shop for home decor. Located on Queen St. East in Toronto, supporting North American companies and like-minded small businesses and artisans as much as possible, is one of the reasons we like this shop. You can find many unique pieces, and their website makes gift shopping a breeze. Here are a few of our picks from their collection.

Spruce

In the heart of Cabbage Town in Toronto, this home decor boutique offers a wide selected of curated vintage, handcrafted & upcycled finds for the home.

Tonic Living

Founded in 2003, Toni Living is a family-owned home decor shop based in Toronto. They bring a mix of curated decor accessories, and what makes them unique, is their in-house sewing team that create quality pillows and ottomans.

Maggie + Dix

Maggie + Dix, named after the owner’s grandmothers, is an online shop located on a farm in Meaford, Ontario. They pride themselves on selling goods from Canadian wholesalers who employ thousands of Canadians.

WYRTH

Founded by brother-sister duo Joey and Rachel Benitah, Wyrth is a modern houseware brand that sells things made for living. The brand’s flagship location opened in July 2019 at 98 Orfus Road, Toronto, Ontario.

LALAYA Design

If you like concrete, our dear friend HANAE BARUCHEL makes one of a kind accessories. We actually did a spotlight on Hanae and Lalaya Design a while back. Check out Lalaya Design: Exploring Strength and Fragility where you can read about her full story.

Konzuk Jewelry + Objects

We absolutely love Karen Konzuk’s concrete jewelry collection. Now she has introduced a new home line, Household by KONZUK.

The collection is evolving from the aesthetic of her jewelry pieces into a series of extraordinary objects that bring a sense of drama to the living space. The Orbis collection is a return to the use of concrete. with its hand-cast finish renders, each object is absolutely unique..

Florals

When we stage a space, we use fresh florals. Floral arrangements are a great way to add some life to a room and an even better gift for the holidays.

Tonic Blooms

Raphi & Michael, co-founders of Tonic Blooms, decided to open up their own flower delivery shop because they believe that ‘sending and receiving flowers should be nothing but sunshine and lollipops!’. They offer curated and seasonal designs with a two-hour delivery service in the Toronto core, and same-day delivery for the rest of the GTA. Perfect for those last minute gifts.

I recently ordered a bouquet of flowers for my mom’s 65th birthday and the arrangement was stunning. The selection of flowers were different than most florists and they lasted a while.

They currently have a Milk & Cookies Campaign to support Sick Kids. Milk and Cookies Amaryllis comes with a 5-stem (up to 20 blooms!) bunch of eggshell white amaryllis, paired with a four-pack of Best Shortbread, a local Toronto cookie company. More importantly $5 from each one will go towards Sick Kids.

Botany Floral Studio

‘A prairie girl who found a city boy, started a family, and moved to Toronto to open our floral studio’. Botany Floral Studio is located in Toronto’s Little Italy. Specializing in offering luscious, uncommon, and old-fashioned flower varieties, and creating fresh and organic designs inspired by nature, whimsical gardens, and nostalgia. Their flowers are locally grown whenever possible, and always fresh and seasonal.

Furry Friends

We can’t forget about our furry friends this holiday season. They bring us unconditional love and joy, and they deserve a little something as well.

Fandom Culture

Although not a pet store, Fandom culture dedicated an entire line of gift boxes to our furry canine friends. Fandom Culture believes that pets have become an integral part of our lives, and most importantly, they are family members. As all family members, they too need to be shown love and showered with gifts.

Best Cat

For all you cat lovers out there you know how difficult it is to find a pet store that has good quality items for your cats. Siblings Meagan and Kyle Daigle felt that the industry catered more to dogs, which made them decide to start the online shop Best Cat.

The Green Bunny Store

The Green Bunny Store is a small one-person business operating from home, in Ottawa-Ontario, Canada. Not satisfied with the quality of treats and toys out their offered for bunnies, Caitlin decided to create her own shop dedicated to safe and fun treats.

There is a great website to find more Canadian local shops for your holiday gifts. If you know of any great local business we would love for you to share add them to the comments below.

Have a safe and happy holiday season everyone!