Do you still need to get gifts for your loved ones? Don’t worry, Burlington shops have you covered. Even better: we’ve done some of the legwork for you and found some great local gift options for adults, kids, and even pets. Read on for our favourite picks, and check out the 2022 adult (but rated “E” for “everyone”) gift list for other fantastic local shops to visit.
This year, we stopped in at a few new shops that carry home goods, jewelry, and more, handmade by local and global artisans.
At the Good Magpie (390 Pearl St.), a multi-use space for all things wellness (there’s a private treatment room in the back, and the main space houses a small boutique and art gallery that can also be booked as a small event venue), we recommend checking out the homewares from Indian brand Soorbhi. We especially love the hand-stitched kantha pillows from Jaipur, India, priced from $47.99 to $55.99. These would be a welcome gift for “good vibes”-loving adults or any older kids in your life. There’s also a marble mortar and pestle ($58.99), and small coconut-shell bowls with yellow flowers ($13.99 each) that would make great snack bowls.
There are also plenty of jewelry options: from beaded bracelets featuring an evil eye or a now-trendy mushroom ($26 each), and dangling beaded earrings ($95), to necklaces featuring tiny bone-shaped pendants ($20 to $25).
While we’re on the bone theme, Megs Octopus Garden (453 Brant St.) has a stacked-skull candle on offer for your loved ones who are more into the Nightmare Before Christmas than Elf.
Megs (the owner and namesake of the shop) also has some excellent gifts for the black-thumbed plant-lover in your life: crocheted flowers in little pots ($14.99), and, our favourite, potted stained-glass cacti ($25).
We also love the moose mugs ($40 each), Berber baskets ($30 each), and recycled silk kimonos ($45). And if you’d like a Christmas theme for your Christmas gift-giving, there are cute pom-pom wreaths in white or green and white ($35), or star- or heart-shaped wreaths (prices vary).
For a conversation-starting gift (literally), head up to Simply Gifted, at 491 Brant St., just up the street from Megs Octopus Garden, and pick up a pack of Convo and Chill conversation cards ($24.99), which come in various themes (Original, Movie Night, After Dark, and more). Grab the Movie Night pack (the cards each have a conversation-starting question like, “What was one of your favourite scenes in this film?”) alongside a few fun snacks, and give a whole movie-night-themed gift to your favourite movie critic.
If you’ve got a pet-crazy person to buy for, we’d pick up a cat-silhouetted mug or a “Dog Mama” mug from Simply Gifted. Or if you’ve got a coffee or tea fanatic, we like the Tease cold brew maker ($49). Add in a bag of coffee beans or tea — Tease brand “Aim Chai” from Simply Gifted or “Turmeric Trance” by Little Fickle Flora from Megs Octopus Garden — and you’re good to go.
If you’re going the bath product route, we love the printed makeup bags ($38.50) and matching face cloths ($18) by Freon Collective at Simply Gifted. We also like the cotton face scrubbies ($9) by Serenity Soaps; add in the divine-smelling Cinnamon Sugar soap from the Good Magpie (or, for a woodsier scent, the Gentleman whiskey and mahogany soap at $14.99 from Simply Gifted) and a snowman-shaped bath bomb ($2.99) from Megs Octopus Garden and you’ll have a lovely gift to give.
If you’re heading to the malls, we suggest stopping in at the White Coconut in Mapleview Centre. Owner Morgan only buys limited numbers of each article of clothing, and styles are modern classics: lots of neutrals and simple shapes, and with affordable prices. We love the Jen & Co. backpack ($89) and belt bag ($99) that were in stock on a recent visit. The bonus with these bags? They’re made with vegan leather. The Wild Heart necklaces ($35) also caught our eye at the White Coconut — especially the one with the evil eye pendant.
For the people on your list who have everything (or who just really like food), we suggest a curated basket of delicious snacks. (You really can’t go wrong with snacks.)
Burlington is spoiled for choice in terms of baked goods, but for a beautiful basket, we suggest starting with an order of six or 12 cookies from Heather Cookie Co., for their buttery, New York-style cookies ($15.50 for six; $29.95 for 12). Choose from flavours like Christmas chocolate chip, featuring festive sprinkles and topped with candy cane bark, funfetti, chocolate mint, milk and cookies, or Toblerone. We couldn’t get enough of the Christmas chocolate chip (though there was division in the home: the junior taster loved the chocolate mint best, while another voted for the funfetti as their favourite). Pre-order online for Saturday pick-ups off of Brant Street; add in an order of hot chocolate truffle bombs ($7.45 for two, available in the “Extras” section of their online cookie shop) for any stockings you have to fill.
For more deliciousness, head over to Cakes, Sweets, and Treats at 1600 Kerns Rd. You can pre-order a pie or cake for a holiday dessert, and pick up a pack of six cookies ($10) to add to your lucky recipient’s gift basket. We also love the raspberry white chocolate rugelach ($1 each), small filled and rolled pastries with a cream cheese-based dough that can be eaten by the tray (or if you are a reasonable person, a box of six or 12). There are also classic gingerbread men and Christmas tree sugar cookies to help fill any stocking gaps. Or pick up a pack of six undecorated cookies (three each of the Christmas trees and gingerbread people) complete with icing and sprinkles to decorate at home ($25/pack).
After the baked goods are chosen, add in one of those aforementioned teas from Megs or Simply Gifted, alongside some other treats: consider freeze-dried Skittles by Lynn Valley Products ($9), a bag of Italian Red Meat flavour Lay’s potato chips, or a giant Tapatio Pickle ($4) from Megs; there’s also My Sweet Sweet World artisan chocolate bar (made in Haldimand, $9/bar), or Whisky on the Pops whisky-infused caramel popcorn ($8.99) from Simply Gifted.
Another food gift idea for your time-pressed loved ones comes via the Janina Soup Company, the sister company to Heather Cookie Co. The menu changes weekly, and soups can be picked up or delivered. We loved their beautifully gingery maple roasted sweet potato soup ($13.50) and would be very happy if someone gave us one of Janina’s gift vouchers — a tasty meal we don’t have to cook? Yes, please! (If you need more incentive, right now, a $60 gift voucher comes with a free $15 voucher for the gift giver.)
Aside from food, we also love to give the gift of reading, and if you want to go meta-local, head on over to A Different Drummer Books (513 Locust St.): you can support a local business and choose a book by a local author to double down on supporting local. There’s Defying Limits, a memoir by astronaut Dr. Dave Williams; What Wild Women Do by Karma Brown, a tale of how the lives of two women unexpectedly intertwine; The Fury of Beijing, the latest Ava Lee thriller by Ian Hamilton; Send Me Into the Woods Alone: Essays on Motherhood by Erin Pepler; or Still Waters, a suspense novel by Sara Driscoll, billed as “an FBI K-9” tale. For those who love a good mystery or classic whodunnit, choose The Merry Widow Murders by Melodie Campbell, Beach Blonde by John Lawrence Reynolds, or A Face in the Window by Lorraine Sommerfeld.
Aside from physical gifts, we really love the idea of gifting experiences, particularly experiences that might just turn into your recipients new favourite hobby. Simply Gifted offers a variety of workshops (from $60 to $90): resin pouring, metal stamping, candle pouring, and paint nights, with dates available in January. And if you’re not sure which one your loved one would most like, you can buy them a gift certificate so that they can choose for themselves.
If your loved one might enjoy woodworking, Shop Time Studios (3317 Mainway, Unit A) offers multi-session woodworking courses and “level-up” classes for more experienced woodworkers. From a four-session introduction to woodworking ($500) to a one- to two-session rustic barrel stave candle holder-making course (“perfect for beginners or groups,” and $70/person), there are a number of options to choose from. Click here for more information or to book a course.
Kids tend to be the focus of many families’ gift-giving efforts, so don’t think we’ve forgotten the littles: stay tuned for our shop-local guide for kids’ gifts, coming very soon!
For a sneak peek of the kids’ gift guide, and a gift option for Lego-loving adults in your life, check out the great Lego sets available at JR Toys (4265 Fairview St.): a zen-inducing Tranquil Garden build; Back to the Future‘s DeLorean; or the Great Pyramid of Giza.
