Intentional Gift Guides 2022

This year we gathered a few quick ideas to inspire your holiday gift giving. We love supporting small shops and being intentional about our gifts — no random “I think they might like it” gifts or gifts out of perceived necessity, but rather gifts given in thoughtfulness and love. So take a look and see if anything stands out for you to gift to your loved ones this year!

1. We love burning candles in our home and especially love candles made with essential oils instead of fragrances. We’ve been enjoying all of our candles from Chalk Full Of Love for years and think they’d make a lovely gift for any relative or friend on your list.

2. Sugar scrubs, facial masks, and lotions are always a winner for gifts in my opinion — who doesn’t want a little pampering? Our favorite bath goods come from a small shop called Urban Oreganics. I’ve been using their products for years and gifting them for many years as well!

3. These sustainably made cozy slippers from Allbirds are my most lived in item. As soon as I get home, they go straight on my feet and don’t come off until I get in bed. You don’t have to gift these particular pair, but gifting something cozy is always a good idea.

1. I’ve been using Book of the Month for a few years now and I’ve loved how much it has exposed me to new books and authors. Hardback books cost $15/month (instead of the usual $28), and you can choose to pick a book every month or skip if you don’t like the selection. Gift your bookish friend a 3-, 6-, or 12-month subscription this year!

2. I’ve been eyeing these book highlighters for all of my nonfiction reads. I’ve read quite a few amazing nonfictions this year and I want to revisit them again soon! Grabbing these highlighters helps remind me of all the amazing things I’m learning about through these books!

3. Bookmarks are such a simple tool in the life of a reader, but when they’re as beautiful as these ones from Etsy, they’re worth gifting to all of the bookworms in your life.

1. Coffee beans for coffee lovers, who would have guessed?! Honestly any beans from any specialty roaster would be a great gift, but since it’s the holiday season, I always love picking up a bag of whatever seasonal holiday blend my favorite coffee shop is offering. I picked Verve for the picture, but we love Good Coffee, Blue Bottle, Go Get ‘Em Tiger, and Saint Frank coffee too!

2. Mugs are always a fun gift for coffee or tea lovers. It’s fun to shop vintage or grab one from your local coffee shop, but this year I found these adorable ceramic mugs on Etsy and I’m pretty obsessed.

3. Coffee blossom honey might sound a bit pretentious, but I promise you it’s better than normal honey in teas and lattes. Try some out for yourself and taste the difference!

1. Shop for vintage records or find your guy’s favorite artist on vinyl! I’m grabbing the newest album from Kings Kaleidoscope this year. It’s partly a gift for me too I guess, but I’m excited to gift it to my husband this year!

2. In to making cocktails or drinking wine? This bareware collection can be customized to what you need. We love the matte black look.

3. I bought this last year for my husband and he loved it! I love the simple design and color of this crossbody bag — it’s perfect for holding phones, wallets, sunglasses or whatever else you or your guy needs.

1. I love these holiday sets from Beauty Counter - great price, great size, and super giftable. I grabbed the hand cream set and Goodbye Dry Duo for gifting this year.

2. Olive and June has some of the cutest shades of nail polish! If your friend is into home manicures or pedicures, grab them a set complete with everything they’ll need.

3. I gifted my bestie this robe last year and honestly I’m jealous of hers. This waffle knit is light but cozy and perfect for gifting to just about anyone.

1. My girls are 2 and 3, so I put together this little list for their age range! We LOVE wooden toys — they’re timeless, last a long time, and are aesthetically pleasing. This one is from Hearth and Hand, but we also love checking out Bitte for any wooden toys.

2. BOOKS! Books are always the best gift for kids of just about any age in my opinion. We obviously love just about anything from Usborne, but my kids have been asking for Bluey books, so those are on our list too.

3. Bath bubbles are really fun to gift at this age as a stocking stuffer or advent calendar gift. We love the brand Tubby Todd and buy them year after year! Bath bombs can also be a fun treat here as well.

1. Here’s a few things I’ve asked for this year! First is this cookbook from The Modern Proper. I’ve been hearing all sorts of rave reviews of this, so it immediately went on my list.

2. Next, I’d love to add this recipe journal to my cookbook collection. I’ve tweaked a few recipes of my own I’d love to keep track of and I’d also love to write down some favorites passed down in my family. This journal comes from Promptly, which we’ve loved and used for years! If a gratitude journal, love story journal, or childhood journal sounds like it might fit someone on your list, check them out!

3. I have a Polaroid camera, but honestly I never remember to bring it with me to capture some of life’s best moments. So I love that this printer hooks up to my iPhone and prints on instax! Now I can take pictures on my phone (like I usually do!) and print off my favorites to keep as mementos.

1. This year, Valerie is eyeing some specialty olive oil for her Christmas list! Tera Creta is a phenomenal olive oil from Crete. The brand has won over 20 awards and once you have your bottle you can actually trace your olive oil back to where the olives were harvested.

2. Recommend by Dallas Willard, Habits of a Child’s Heart has intentional and practical ways to introduce children from preschool age to teenagers to spiritual disciplines. A great resource for Christian educators and parents.

3. We just recently started composting all of our food scraps and putting them in our green bin at the end of the week. We’re currently using a bowl — it works, but we’d love to upgrade to this countertop composter from Lomi! It’s odor free, pest free, mess free, and compact.

We hope these gift guides inspire you to give intentionally this season. Whether for family, friends, coworkers, or teachers, everyone on your list deserves a thoughtful and helpful gift this year.