Holiday 2011 Gift Guide

Need a gift for a person who appreciates the provenance of presents? Here are eleven fun, unique ideas from central Ohio:

1) Little Alouette makes the most beautiful baby gifts, period. This holiday they offer personalized teethers, rocking horses, and a stunning nativity set.

2) I picked up a Zeroz Wallet for myself this fall and I am totally in love with the ultra-simple, sleek, handmade-in-Columbus design. It seems unreasonable that someone could improve on something as basic as a wallet, but Zeroz has done it.

3) A week ago, Tulane Road Pottery delivered an invitation to their holiday open house. We walked all of four blocks to the backyard studio and admired the earthy, architectural ceramic ware. A Tulane Road handmade plate, bowl, mug or piggy bank would make a handsome gift.

4) Thurns Meat Samplers - This year Thurn's Speciality Meats, 530 Greenlawn Ave., is offering gift packs for the holiday season, all under $20.00. Your choice of bacon, smoked sausage, jerky, or party sampler will include meats vacuum packed for easy transportation and packaged in a gift bag.

5) Did you know that central Ohio is home to a nationally recognized handcrafted stoneware manufacturer? Hartstone Pottery in Zanesville creates freezer-microwave-dishwasher-oven-safe dishes from USA clay and adds lead-free hand-painted details. I use my tall mug for coffee or tea every day. Visit their location for factory tours and a complete store or shop online with 30% off through next Friday.

6) If don't receive a pair of foodie earrings from Sweet Stella Designs this xmas, I'm buying them for myself. Amy makes miniature confections out of polymer clay that look almost good enough to eat. Find a Sweet Stella dessert accoutrement at What the Rock?! and Wholly Craft, or the MAC Holiday Sale, see below.

7) Igloo Letterpress and The Hills Market collaborated to make a touching, limited edition, Hand that Feeds You poster. Pick yours up at either location for just $25.

8 ) For the sweets lover, grab a Sassafras Bakery Gift Package of handmade from-scratch cookies, brownies, or bars. AJ will be serving up her holiday menu through December 23 for pickup in Worthington or Gahanna or you can pick up individual treats at Bexley Coffee Shop, Market 65, or The Hills Market.

9) Anyone who loves dining out in Columbus needs Nick Decker's book, Breakfast with Nick. In it, he profiles breakfast joints and places that serve coffee and eats all day.

10) Family and friends who appreciate fine drinks will certainly enjoy the best of central Ohio's spirits. I suggest Watershed Gin, Brothers Drake Apple Pie Mead, or OYO Whiskey.

11) For the person who has everything, try a gift certificate to North Market, Franklin Park Conservatory,or Columbus Food Adventures or a gift basket from Celebrate Local or Hills Market. If you are feeling charitable instead of material, try a donation to Local Matters, Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association, the Mid-Ohio Food Bank or Slow Food Columbus.

What local gifts are you giving this year?

On My List

It is list making season, no? No matter your place on the HanuSolMas spectrum, there is some holiday that calls for presents.

In my family, gifts are made of love and time. Much of what we give and receive is handmade. We flip the consumerism coin and come up with heads and hearts - my family makes some awesome gifts.

And yet, we give and receive indulgences that cannot be made by hand. Our wish lists are typically exchanged over Thanksgiving which is why I'm making my wish list today. Here are a few things I would love to receive:

I feel like a disingenuous cook without a Le Creuset yet I can not fathom paying so much to replace our affordable, made in USA Lodge cast iron ware. Still, I lust after the cassis color cassoulet crock. I fell in love with club soda this summer. It soothed my sinuses and refreshed me from the months of heat. The packaging waste makes me sick though. Is a pricey Penguin SodaStream worth it? Our wheelbarrow is broken. The tire axle is bent and with cheap wooden handles and a plastic bed, it's not worth fixing. Instead, I think a cart would be more fun and utile. Our kitchen scale is an old analog one. We're using it more and more to weigh charcuterie ingredients, flour for breads, and science projects. Maybe Santa thinks a digital one is finally in order. We have several vacations planned for 2011 and hope to jump on some of Alex's business travel too. My current rain jacket does it's job well but is bulky. Alex loves his Marmot Precip and I think I would like one too.

What do you wish for this year?

PS. I keep an ongoing wish list for myself and Lil in Evernote. Do you use this app? I LOVE having my lists and notes with me at all times!

In light of the US economy, many people are opting to make handmade gifts this year and shop at small businesses. I highly encourage the shop local movement! I will publish a suggestion about central Ohio gift shops and a couple make-your-own ideas soon.

Make it Yourself: Holiday Tree

Our Xmas tradition is to decorate a Norfolk Island Pine.  It tolerates the attention but prefers to be an indoor/outdoor tree and is usually completely dried from the lights at the end of the holiday season. This year I was thinking about buying a metal or wooden reusable tree.  Then I had a brainstorm: let's make our own branch tree!

I filled an empty clay pot with garden stones.  Sand or pea gravel would also work well.

Lil helped me gather multi-pronged branches from the backyard.  We inserted them into the stones and added more on top to hold the branches in place.

I brought the 'tree' inside and wondered whether it was a dumb idea.  The branches looked out of place on the quilted tree skirt made by my grandmother.

We unwrapped our  collection of  miniature ornaments and added them to the tree.

I placed a few pieces of holiday origami at the base.

When all the decorations were placed, I fell in love.  Our tree is earthy yet shows off our ornaments.  I don't have to worry about leaves drying out or presents being dirtied by soil.  Best of all, the tree cost nothing and can be returned to the yard at the end of the season.

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I am also in love with my new camera.  I brooded about whether I needed a DSLR for months and finally bought a Canon EOS Rebel T1i Digital SLR Camera on Friday.  It is amazing!  I'm still learning how to use it well, but the pictures I'm getting are already so much better than I could take with my Powershot.

Case in point: I rarely took pictures of Hawise before because the old camera would not react quickly enough to capture her ever moving body.  Today I recorded another xmas tradition with the DSLR: torturing the dogs with costuming.