Holiday Gift Ideas in St. Louis: Goodwill Antique Gift Sets For Everyone on Your List
Christmas is just days away, and if you are like many busy St. Louis natives during the holidays you are still rushing to find some last minute gifts for your loved ones. Don’t opt for paying express shipping again for something family members and friends may not like or use. You can still do something special for them even in just a few days time. To avoid all of the crazy lines of other last minute shoppers in the stores, go somewhere a little less busy during the holiday season like a local thrift shop, a farmers market or a Goodwill store. Thrift stores and farmers markets are full of beautiful antique items and locally made necessities and there are numerous stores throughout the Greater St. Louis area for your convenience. Thrift and market items can be given simply as they are or combined with other items to create an antique Christmas gift set. Vintage gifts provide a special unique touch that modern products simply cannot compare to. And these gifts will be cherished for years to come. Now that’s what you call ‘winning’ the last minute game.
For the Foodie
Do you have a food lover in your life? Put together a simple vintage food crate as an everlasting gift for your foodie this year. First take a trip to your local thrift store or MERS Goodwill where you are sure to find a few varieties of wooden vintage creates. Look for a crate that is authentic with original paint or typography, anything that sparks your wonder and reminds you of the person you’re gifting. Choose the crate size based on your budget and the amount of food items you will be gifting. Next visit a local year round market like Soulard Farmers Market for a variety of seasonal winter food items that you know your giftee would love. Many citrus fruits are in season at this time of year as well as pomegranates, sweet potatoes, winter squash, kale and collard greens. In addition to fruits and vegetables, also consider picking up items for a winter cheese plate or any other specialty foods you know they would love. You could even be extra special to them and add a popular local food magazine like Feast or Sauce including a gift card or two to their favorite restaurants in St. Louis.
Home Grown St. Louis Farmers Markets | Explore St. Louis
The Best Fruits and Vegetables to Eat This Winter | Greatist
The Most Epic Cheese Plates and How to Re-Create Them |My Domaine
St. Louis Dining Guide | St. Louis Magazine
The 13 Hottest New Restaurants in St. Louis | Eater
For the Baker
Does your loved one love to bake? From cookies and cakes to any kind of bread imaginable, their oven is always in use. And they are always the one bringing the goodies to the get-togethers every year. It’s about time for their good karma to come back around don’t you think? A bread board and loaf is a simple gift that they will really cherish. You can find an antique wooden bread board at your local Goodwill or any St. Louis antique shops that sell kitchenware. Bread boards are becoming a rather popular item but they can still be found for a bargain if you shop in the right place. To go along with your breadboard, gift a homemade bread made yourself or buy an artisan loaf from one of the best St. Louis bakeries. To give your gift a more rustic look, add some small vintage items with your bread board. You can place a vintage tea towel underneath the loaf, add antique bread and butter plates with butter knives, or some old fashioned cookie cutters to complete the gift set. To really make your gift unique you could even make one side into a chalkboard to display when not in use.
The Best Antique Shops of St. Louis | Where Traveler
Stop Loafing Around: 30 Great Homemade Bread Recipes| Brit +Co
Where to Find the Best Bread in St. Louis | St. Louis Magazine
Great Artisanal Bread is Being Baked All Over the Area | St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Vintage Cutting Board Kitchen Chalkboard | Knick of Time
For the Boozy Party Host
The holidays are here and your party people are ready to go. Help them be even more prepared with a little boozy antique love. An antique vase champagne chiller or ice bucket can be found at just about any of St.Louis’ best antique stores in a silver, gold or copper finish. This is the perfect gift for your fun loving aunt, cousin or friend. And what a great addition this gift would make at the holiday party. Just sneak a bag of ice into the freezer when you arrive and it will be ready to use upon opening for the next round of drinks. Another antique item you can include with your ice bucket is a classic silver antique beverage tray. The tray can be used for many purposes, but when you gift it you could include their favorite wines or liquors, and a cocktail recipe book like this one from Anthropologie at the Galleria or you could make your own. If you are feeling extra, you could also add a gift card or two to their favorite bars in St. Louis. Just slide the gift card/s into the cocktail recipe book and don’t forget to include their favorite beverage/s in the ice bucket as well!
Vintage Serving Tray | Etsy
32 Cool Gifts for Cocktail Lovers | Brit + Co
9 Best Cocktail Recipe Books | The Independent
Best Bars in St. Louis 2017 | St. Louis Magazine
The 10 Best Bars in St. Louis | Feast Magazine
For the Artist, Maker and DIYer
Is there a special artistic soul in your life who loves to read, write and create? Gift them with something special that comes straight from the heart. Gorgeous notebooks and stationery sets make a perfect gift for any aspiring artist, especially when they are gifted in a vintage wire file basket. A wire file basket is perfect for artist use or general storage purposes because wire baskets can be used for just about anything. Mail, letters, notebooks and stationery as well as art and craft supply storage, cookbooks or novels, bathroom hand towels, fruit and vegetable storage containers, you name it. Antique wire baskets can easily be found at any Missouri Goodwill store or your local antique or thrift shop. These wire baskets come in various shapes and sizes, and some even have original paint to give them extra character. Make sure you choose the best basket for the items you will be gifting. You can purchase notebooks, journals and stationery sets at just about any bookstore in St. Louis. If you are looking for a store specific to stationery and letter sets, PAPYRUS in the St. Louis Galleria is a great place shop. For something a little bit more customized, The Firecracker Press sells St. Louis themed letterpress merchandise as well as other various themes that may be special for your creative friend or family member. Don’t forget to add items that specifically appeal to your loved one’s style of art!
8 Magical Bookstores That Every St. Louis Book Lover Should Visit | River Front Times
St. Louis Invitations, Stationery & Gift Sets | Vellum Paperie
Creating Opportunities for STL’s Young Creatives and Experienced Professionals | STLOUISARTWORKS
21 Gifts for the Artist in Your Life | College Magazine
35+ Fun Gifts for the Creative People in Your Life | My Modern Met
For the Health and Beauty Enthusiast
Know someone special in your life that happens to love antiques and homemade beauty products? You won’t go wrong with a vintage ‘eau de toilet’ gift set. Just fill an antique chamber pot with homemade soaps, essential oils and natural bath bombs so they can pamper themselves all winter long. Chamber pots are a clever storage container for beauty products in the bathroom because they were once used to hold water for cleaning and hygiene purposes. This holiday season, find a gorgeous antique chamber pot at a St. Louis thrift store and fill it with beauty essentials for your loved one. Fill the pot with different kinds of homemade soaps that you can make yourself or buy local. If you want to make your soaps extra special, create your own recipe! You can also make or buy all natural bath bombs. Bath bombs of different scents can be separated and packaged in mason jars to create more of a vintage look. Essential oils are also a great gift for someone who is wellness focused. Different essential oils are used for different health purposes and they are known to have many benefits. You can find essential oils in St. Louis at local farmers markets and grocers like St. Louis Whole Foods Markets.
Essential oils gift set. Lavender bath bombs in mason jars. Teacup candles.
Basic and Easy Homemade Soap Making Recipes | The Spruce
100% All Natural Handmade Soaps St. Louis MO | SammySoap
10 Bath Bomb Recipes That Are Easy to DIY | Makeup Tutorials
Best Essential Oils and Their Benefits | Global Healing Center
Top Locally Made Beauty Products in St. Louis | CBS St. Louis
For the Couch Potato and Entertainment Fanatic
Many people truly enjoy winter break and look forward to the holidays for staying in, relaxing and catching up on the latest shows, or re-watching a favorite Netflix series. These people can seem rather hard to shop for. But the truth is they are actually the easiest! And making them a classic vintage gift set complete with winter lounging necessities is quite fun to put together! A popcorn tin is always a good start. You can find all kinds of vintage popcorn tins at any thrift store out there. Pick your favorite vintage tin and fill it with gourmet popcorn from one of the best popcorn shops in St. Louis or make the popcorn yourself! Consider buying a couple antique tins, one for popcorn and maybe a couple more for other goodies. This is a great idea because antique metal tins can be found in many different shapes and sizes, and it will be hard to choose just one. Fill another tin with their favorite books, movies and games. You could even buy a couple vintage books they might enjoy and stick gift cards or movie theatre tickets in them! iTunes, Netflix or Redbox are all great gift card ideas! If your loved one likes to cozy up by the fire do something special by making them a handmade blanket or a firewood carrier. If your couch potato likes to play games with family members over Christmas break a good homemade gift is a classic wooden tic-tac-toe board game. This rustic gift is simple to craft, fun for everyone and it will be a cherished gift for years to come.
St. Louis Gourmet Popcorn Store and Gifts | POPtions Gourmet Popcorn
50 Flavored Popcorn Recipes | Food Network
Homemade Blankets and Quilts | Martha Stewart
8 Amazing Board Games You Can DIY | Wise Bread
St. Louis Board Game Bar and Café | STL Pieces
Around the holidays it’s important to remind yourself that gift giving shouldn’t be centered on stress. Even last minute gifts can be quick, easy and turn out wonderful. The best way to do last minute gifts for the holidays is to be minimalistic. Minimal gift giving and supporting local small businesses and resale shops is a great way to spread love and cheer all around. Any business that runs to support a cause, movement or charity is a great way to show you care in more ways than one. St. Louis is full of great local shops and businesses to support. Hand-make gifts whenever possible and shop antique, vintage and local. Your loved ones will truly appreciate all the love you put in.
15 Vintage-Inspired Homemade Christmas Gift Ideas | HGTV
70 Crafty Handmade Holiday Gift Ideas | HGTV
10 Top Resale, Vintage and Thrift Shops in St. Louis | Alive Magazine
Cherokee Antique Row St. Louis | Cherokee Antique Row
