Made-in-Hamilton gift guide
Giving is easy. But, for some, deciding what to give gets a little more complicated.
Plenty of folks in Hamilton make that dreaded task easier, creating delicious, beautiful or otherwise interesting things that are perfect to gift your loved ones this holiday season.
The city's economic development division has also launched a holiday spend it here" campaign to showcase local shopping and dining treasures across Hamilton. Check out the site at www.investinhamilton.ca/spendithere.
To get you started on your local shopping experience, here are some made-in-Hamilton gift ideas:
To hold your things
Thoughtfully crafted, cotton-linen canvas bags by Hammerstitch include a floral box pouch, for travel or home. Find the bags at hammerstitch.com for $45.
Some like it hot
Get a Dawson's Hot Sauce gift set to satisfy spicy tastebuds. Their three-bottle set includes Big Smoke, Garlic Jalapeno and Sweet Pear Chili for $33: dawsonshotsauce.com.
Indoor decor
Find a collection of glass hummingbirds from the glass studio of Paull Rodrigue. Find the unique decorative items in a variety of colours for $45 or request a custom order at glasshummingbirds.ca.
A sweet treat
Try out various unique jars of unifloral honey from local apiarists Humble Bee. Each jar, produced using specific species of flowers such as buckwheat, knotweed, lavender or goldenrod, are $12.99. humble-bee-inc.myshopify.com
Less sweet
Angsty locals might appreciate a Hamilton Hates You Too" sweatshirt from LEN: Democratic Purveyors, for when people talk bad about the city: $49.95 len4all.com
For little builders
Just add bed sheets and these Crazy Forts could soon be taking up the whole living room. The fort-building kit comes with 25 balls and 44 sticks to build a structure. Available online and at stores that sell toys for about $45: crazyforts.com
For bigger builders
Construct The Planets from Four Point Puzzles. The set comes with eight planet puzzles with 2,000 pieces total for $58: fourpointpuzzles.com
Keeping your money
Tundra leather makes a traditional folded wallet for holding your cash and cards. Gift the vegetable-tanned leather pocket wallet for $119.99: tundraleather.ca
Flaming brick
Gift the famous Hamilton brick, but in candle form. Wicked Wax Creations sells the triple wick, 75 hour candle for $34: wickdwaxcreations.ca
Time for a watch
A watch named after James Street from designers Locke and King. Find it in silver or matte black for $500: lockeandking.ca
The news
Gift an annual online subscription to TheSpec.com for $48: thespec.com/gifts
Jeremy Kemeny is a Hamilton-based web editor at The Spectator. Reach him via email: jkemeny@thespec.com