We have your holiday shopping covered!
You often hear phrases like ‘shop local’ and ‘support handmade’ but wouldn’t it be nice to see a few specific ideas? There’s a fairly new non-profit in town called the Alexandria Art Guild, and it’s members have some fun options for the holidays when it comes to gifting.There are hundreds of great quality ideas made right here in Douglas County, but AlexArt.org has a handy list of local artists, so I used that as a starting point to pull a few ideas.10 Locally Made GIFT IDEAS:
- A pack of locally made greeting cards. From fun watercolors to locally photographed birds and more, they’re a great gift year round. Many on the member artist list do carry them.
- Personalized gifts, hand stamped on an anvil, such as a mother’s necklace, or even a hand stamped keychain by artist Jon Thompson. Pictured is a recycled shell casing from a 21-gun salute, to commemorate Dad’s or Grandpa’s service in a unique way.
- A painted portrait of your home, cabin or child by Noni Bjorklund, Linda Gaugert, Faith Mills, or Chanda Kraft to name a few. Their talents are extraordinary.
- A handmade journal by watercolorist Kathy Grundei at Three Havens studio.
- Handmade pottery, like a new coffee mug, a set of dip bowls or even a microwave egg cooker by an area potter like Kate Smith, Mimi Seykora, Emily Wolf or Melissa Werpy.
- Shopping for someone with a green thumb? Soda kiln fired flower pots and vases by Phil Smith are whimsical and one of a kind.
- A wooden charcuterie board is all the rage this year. Did you know that locally they’re made by artists Bill Seykora and Matthew Bakke?
- MN potholders by Linda Pallow can be found at the Runestone Museum gift shop. An affordable stocking stuffer for anyone who wants to make time in the kitchen more colorful.
- Wooden games such as a horse racing game and more are created by Matt with Busy Squirrel Creations.
- Natural goat milk soaps for all ages, in many colors and scents are made by Val Bakke of Lake Country Essential Soaps.
Douglas County is filled with so much creativity. I am sure there are many more I’ve missed here. If you know of a creative person who would love to join up with other like minded folks, and build upon each other’s creativity, be sure to have them look up the Alexandria Art Guild, and join the network of others across the lakes area at alexart.org.
Alexandria Art Guild 