Favorite Shops For Eco-Friendly Holiday Gift Ideas

By
Hilary Feldstein Ratner

December 10, 2020

With the holidays fast approaching, I thought I’d share some of my favorite places this year to get gifts from. While I always favor giving an experience rather than a material good, this year is a bit different due to the COVID-19 pandemic making safe experiences outside of your home hard to come by.

Instead, I’ve come up with this list of shops that make items that are eco-friendly, handmade, small batch, sustainably sourced, organic and/or natural. Most are local small businesses, many are female-owned, and some even have a charitable angle as an added bonus!

So if you’re looking for something special and unique, that isn’t terrible for the environment, and can even have a positive impact on this world in some way, this is a great place to start.

Here Are My Favorite Shops For Eco-Friendly Holiday Gift Items!

Funky Chicken Ceramics

Beautiful, handmade, and unique custom ceramic pieces. Mention “Hilltop” and a 20% donation will be made to this local non-profit co-op preschool.

Tangerine Jalene

Homegrown, handmade organic soaps, lotions, and beauty products. Made in small batches with love and all natural ingredients. Eco-friendly packaging. I am personally OBSESSED with the Creamsicle body butter, and love her gorgeous soaps! Receive free shipping with code HILLTOP, and a 20% donation will also be made to this local non-profit co-op preschool.

Junque Shoppe

Vintage and Modern Children’s Clothes, Books, Toys and Home Goods. If you’re going to give a material item for a gift, why not make it a gently used treasure! Thrifted items are perfect eco-friendly holiday gift items. Scroll through her Instagram page and you’ll see her taste is impeccable and she has a ton of really adorable and special pieces for sale all at reasonable prices. Mention “Hilltop” and a 20% donation will be made to this local non-profit co-op preschool.

Robyn’s Nest Shoppe

Hand crafted, customized felted birthday crowns, and macrame plant hangers with ceramic pots. Receive free shipping with code HILLTOP20 and 50% of sales will be donated back to this local non-profit co-op preschool.

Thirty One Gifts

Reusable Totes, purses, wallets, and more personalized bags and home goods. Mention code Hilltop and 20% of sales will be donated back to this local non-profit co-op preschool.

KNOTBABY

Super sweet hand-tied head wraps and swaddles for your littles. Made by a local mom. Mention code Hilltop and 20% of sales will be donated back to this local non-profit co-op preschool.

Cuarantine Cooking Classes

This hard-working mama somehow juggles homeschooling two kids with running her own virtual cooking class program, and she does it with aplomb. There’s a new schedule every month with menus themed for that particular month, and includes classes for kids, teens, and adults alike. This is a great way to give a loved one a safe experience as a holiday gift, and support a female entrepreneur as well. I’m looking forward to doing her Hanukah Latkes cooking class next weekend, where she’ll be sharing her grandmother’s own recipe for these yummy potato pancakes!

Kyle Branch Design

A former Disney Imagineer, Kyle applies his experience in graphic design to making holiday card designs with a Disney theme. They’re so whimsical and lovely. He can also do custom orders on request!

R Design Creations

This creative woodworker makes beautiful wooden coasters, custom ornaments, and more. She custom designed a set of rough edge wooden coasters with an Alice In Wonderland theme for me as a gift to a fellow Disney fanatic. Her baby Yoda wooden coasters would make a great gift for any STAR WARS fan!

Lavender Apothecary

This mother and son small business team create gorgeous-smelling handmade goods like scented candles, eye and neck pillows, and my personal latest obsession, shower steamers! Miss going to a spa? Don’t even have time for a bath in your own home? Then you need these shower steamers, which dissolve while you shower and come in a variety of delightful scents.

Chef Gracie Gomez

This talented Disneyland Resort pastry chef was the subject of a feature article where she was called a “creative genius” for her contributions to many super popular Disneyland Resort sweets including Jack Jack’s Cookie Num Nums, Toy Story macarons, speciality cupcakes, and desserts at 21 Royal and Club 33. She’s now applying her talent to selling handmade hot cocoa bombs and mini gingerbread houses. It’s like having a little taste of Disney in your home this holiday season. (Sorry, she cannot ship at this time so this is only for SoCal local delivery/pick up.)

Sew Magical By Emily

Emily makes face masks, eye masks, hair bows, memory bears, spa headbands, heating pads and more. I had never heard of a bowl cozie before, but she makes them and I learned that they are a thing I absolutely need! My son is always complaining that his soup bowl at dinner time is too hot to touch. Her bowl cozies protect little (and grown-up fingers) from the hot contents – brilliant!

Made By Lindsey Designs

Handmade bags, purses, and keychains by a female small business owner in sunny Florida.

The Franco Shop

This 17 year Disney veteran who was furloughed in March and his wife are parlaying their love of woodworking into a veritable furniture business! They make everything from custom engraved serving trays and pet feeders to large items like custom headboards, wine bars, shoe benches, and much more.

The Short Stop

I wrote this post for OC Mom Collective about how I use her cloth drawstring bags for my kids’ Hanukah gifts (8 nights = a lot of wasteful wrapping otherwise!) and she makes them in many different prints including Christmas and favorite sports teams. Plus right now, every bag in the store is $6 or under with free shipping.

Maddie And Me Handmade

Handmade bows, bowties, headbands, and face masks, made using gorgeous Liberty Of London print fabric. If you know me and have had a baby in the past like five years, chances are you’ve received one of her items as a baby gift. I just love her attention to detail, her curated selection of fabrics, and supporting a female entrepreneur.

For more eco-friendly holiday gift ideas, please check out my post on Holiday Gifts For Guys and STAR WARS Gift Ideas.

Or, you can pick from the over 100 items on the Eco Friendly Mama’s Recommendations List on Amazon, including gift ideas for kids, babies, games, toys, beauty, home, health, and more.

(Please note that as an Amazon Affiliate, I may receive a small commission for any items you purchase through that list, which helps to pay for the upkeep of this website).

Do you have a favorite small business shop that offers eco-friendly holiday gift items for sale this holiday season? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below!