Buy Local/Buy Smart Holiday Gift Guide 2011
Mississippi Market Co-op is proud to carry local gift items like the pottery made by St. Paul resident, Teresa Theresa Gramlich. She is the owner and sole-potter of Utile Mud. Her pieces are hand-formed or thrown on a pottery wheel and then refined and altered during the drying process. The result is a durable and unique work of art to be used every day in the home. All glazes are nontoxic, lead-free and food safe. Prices range from $9 for the tumbler to $43 for the casserole dish, with many items in between. Mississippi Market Co-ops, 622 Selby Avenue, and 1500 W. Seventh St., St. Paul. msmarkets.coop.
The ultra hot Apple MacBook Air features the latest Intel Core processors, high-speed Thunderbolt I/O, a backlit keyboard, and OS X Lion, the world’s most advanced desktop operating system. MacBook Air also comes standard with flash storage, so it boots up in seconds, launches apps quickly, and wakes from sleep in an instant. And a long-lasting battery powers MacBook Air for up to 7 hours and offers up to 30 days of standby time. All in a durable unibody design that’s thin, light, and ready for anything. Starting at $999.
FirstTech, 2640 Hennepin Ave. S, Minneapolis. firsttech.com.
The Smitten Kitten loves Sliquid Organics Lubricant’s dedication to producing quality, natural, vegan-friendly lubricants made from all-natural and organic ingredients. All of their lubes are glycerin- and paraben-free, and always so wonderfully slick. The diverse staff at Smitten Kitten have lots of favorite lubes, but you can bet that at least one of the Sliquid lubes are on almost all of their lists! Priced at $17.99 for 4.2oz and $29.99 for 8.5 oz.
Smitten Kitten, 3010 Lyndale Ave. S, Minneapolis. smittenkittenonline.com.
The Weber Q Gas Grill is the perfect gift for tailgaters and condo-dwellers alike. The Q series’ compact design features 189 to 280 square inches of total cooking area and is made in the USA. Prices range from $149 to $199.
Warners’ Stellian Appliance stores, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Edina, Apple Valley, Woodbury, Maple Grove. warnersstellian.com.
Minneapolis artist Mark Herman brings us the Minnehaha Creek in winter. Lithographic print on acid free paper ready for framing. Available in 8x10 print, 16x20 print and greeting card. Prices range from $3.95-$28.50. Additional Minnesota landmarks also available. At The Bibelot Shops 4 locations in St. Paul and Minneapolis. bibelotshops.com.
Sock It To Me Socks have a great pair to fit every personality. There are dozens of men's and women's styles available for $10 a pair. Electric Fetus, 2000 4th Ave. S, Minneapolis. electricfetus.com.
Foldable/Portable Recycled Cardboard Speakers are the perfect music listening accessory for people on the go. Whether you're camping, at the beach, in the car, or on the boat - these little powerhouse speakers fold flat for storage and transport, then pop open into cubes. Made with recycled cardboard, simply unpack, plug and play. Priced at $19.95. Moss Envy, 3056 Excelsior Blvd., Minneapolis. mossenvy.com.
Faribault Woolen products are guaranteed to last. Using the highest quality materials, manufacturing, and hand-sewn techniques, each product is made with care and precision right here in the US. Prices: Soho Throw, $119.95; Revival Stripe, $299.95 (pictured above); Pure & Simple, $109.95-$169.95. Faribault Woolen Mill Co. faribaultmill.com.
Fans of the Birchwood Cafe will love an apparel gift or local cookbook. Logo T-shirt, $15. "Locally Grown" logo baby onesies, $13. Logo Turtle Fur hat, $20. Bike Team water bottle, $5. Bike Team hat, $12. Bike Team socks, $9. “Minnesota Homegrown Cookbook” featuring Birchwood Cafe recipes, $29.95. Birchwood Cafe, 3311 E. 25th St., Minneapolis. birchwoodcafe.com.
The Saint Paul Almanac features stories, articles, poems, events, and a calendar & datebook for your own notes—all about Saint Paul! Available in full color for the first time and—another first—includes gorgeous, hand-drawn, poster-size, pull-out maps of the City of Saint Paul and Downtown! Includes work by new writers alongside the work of Saint Paul literary greats such as Garrison Keillor and Max Shulman. Priced at $17.95 (includes shipping & handling). Order at www.saintpaulalmanac.com or buy at Common Good Books, the Bibelot, Mississippi Markets and most independently run Saint Paul coffee shops.
Featuring the brand new Green Toys School Bus, made in the USA from recycled milk bottles. The Green Toys vehicle collection at Peapods also includes a Fire Truck, Recycling Truck, and pink or yellow Dump Trucks. A perfect gift for kids ages 1 to 7. Priced at $27.99. Peapods Natural Toys and Baby Care, 2290 Como Ave., St. Paul. peapods.com
The Saint Paul Saints Baseball Holiday Ticket Package features two (2) five-game ticket packages, two (2) Saints stocking caps, a 64 oz. growler of beer and a six-pack of root beer from Vine Park Brewery. Call 651-644-6659 or visit saintsbaseball.com to order.
Egg|Plant Urban Farm Supply is your local source for home cheesemaking! We carry a wide variety of kits from Urban Cheesecraft, New England Cheesemaking Supply and Wind Dance Vineyards, as well as rennet, starters, cheesecloth, and other supplies. This Mozzarella/Ricotta Kit from New England Cheese contains everything you need (just add milk) for tasty home-made cheese in less than an hour, makes 30 batches for $26. Other kits are priced from $6.50 to $55.
Egg|Plant Urban Farm Supply, 1771 Selby Ave., St. Paul. eggplantsupply.com.
Twin Cities-based Mindware consistently comes up with innovative ideas for toys, activity kits and coloring books that not only are a lot of fun, but challenging & engaging as well. Wet Paint is featuring Mindware as one of the staff-selected product lines for its Holiday Sale. New this year is MagnMosaics at $21.21, a beautiful set with 1,200 magnetic tiles for creating patterns & images. Mindware follows up on last year’s hit, the build-it-yourself Catapult, with a Trebuchet priced at $25.46 . Once constructed, this medieval age-inspired device can fling small objects using a counterweight. And for builders young and old, there is Structures 200 -- a popular set of stacking wood planks available for $42.46 . All Mindware products are 15% off during the holidays. Wet Paint Artists’ Materials & Framing, 1684 Grand Ave., St. Paul. wetpaintart.com
Esse Reusable Bags -- a local, woman owned company offering high-quality, machine washable reusable bags for every shopping need -- has great gift ideas for any budget from the 2Pak Produce Bag set at $4 to the $40 CarryAll Tote complete shopping system. Making a difference just got a little easier and a lot more stylish. Buy at EsseReusableBags.com or at Moss Envy in Minneapolis.
The ZUCA Bag is agile, graceful and absurdly versatile. And with a light, super-strong aluminum frame and oversized polyurethane wheels (they climb stairs), even school hallways and cracked sidewalks can't slow its roll. Other sweet features? A removable hand-washable bag. Wheels that flash (so they are seen crossing the street at night). Tons of custom combos with 47 inserts and 8 frame colors. And yes, a built-in seat. Perfect for athletes, students, working professionals, artists, scrapbookers and more. Priced at $149.99-$154.99 for the Complete Sport Insert and Frame. Strauss Skates and Bicycles, 1751 Cope Ave. E, Maplewood. straussskates.com.
A unique work of art, an extraordinary partnership. Monkeybiz art supports both a women's empowerment project in South Africa and HIV/AIDS relief programs in sub-Saharan Africa. Monkeybiz is a non-profit bead project that focuses on empowering women in the most economically under-resourced areas of South Africa through sustainable employment and health services. All Monkeybiz profits are reinvested back into community services. Open Arms purchases the hand-beaded artwork and sells the pieces with 100% of the profits invested in their international programs. Each year, Open Arms works with more than 1,400 volunteers to cook and deliver professional chef designed, free, delicious meals for people living with life-threatening illnesses, such as HIV/AIDS, ALS, MS, breast cancer and 55 other diseases. Open Arms has an assortment of Monkeybiz priced between $18.50 and $500.00 for purchase Monday - Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Additionally, the Bibelot Shops (bibelotshops.com) sell a limited selection of Monkeybiz with 100% of the profits returned to Open Arms. Open Arms, 2500 Bloomington Ave S, Minneapolis. openarmsmn.org
The Wedge Co-op, in Minneapolis, offers a unique selection of handcrafted wooden items from Northern Minnesota. There are gorgeous wooden plates, candle-holders, tree decorations, bowls and rolling pins, the creations of David Towley, of Bemidji, MN. Prices range from $12.49 to $49.99. Wedge Co-op, 2105 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis. www.wedge.coop
