Twas the Night Before December...

...and all through your emails the ads abound, with unique gifts rarely found.

Okay we're no poets. But we're fairly certain we can all a relate to getting about 17 emails from every business we ever bought, or thought about buying something, from recently. Then here we come along and add one more to them! However, in our email we will attempt to provide some actual value rather than simply clogging up your inbox with entirely self-serving emails.

We wanted to write up a small list of local small businesses that could provide you with truly unique gifts for the holidays. These gifts won't just make the recipient happy, but will also help support the local economy and a small business owner. Additionally, most of these suggestions are consumables or services which are inherently low-waste and require little-to-no wrapping! A little "unique local gift guide" if you will. Obviously this is not an all-inclusive list and I will update this blog post if new ideas are brought to my attention!

One last thing before we continue. Most people enjoy giving and receiving gifts and we are not the type of refill store to condescend about consumerism. We are a shop after all! In fact, here is a fun ditty from the Wall Street Journal about how capitalism saved Christmas. But that said, we do think there is something to be said for thoughtful purchasing. We enjoy giving and receiving consumables (chocolate, wine, food, tickets to the theater, ect.,) rather than 'stuff.' So just in the back of your mind this holiday season, think of how lasting that gift will be and where it will ultimately end up. Is it recyclable? Will it end up in landfill for a thousand years? Will it get eaten? Will that packaging outlast the gift itself? Alright -- that's as preachy as we are going to get!

Onto the cool gift suggestions, in no particular order.

Raw Milk Share

Check out Sky's Edge Farm or Little Bit Family Farm to get you or your loved one a truly awesome gift. These local farms specialize in delicious raw milk and eggs. Purchasing a share of the herd for your family helps support small farms, provides you with yummy healthy milk and will be a unique gift.

Sourdough

The folks at Forest Trail Farm can hook you and your loved ones up with some of the yummiest baked goods you can find. They specialize in sourdough bread and other sourdough bakery items like bagels, baguettes, cookies and pretzels! Not to mention the cutest sourdough gingerbread house making kits! The kits come with everything you need for a fun family activity.

Reiki Session

Fruition Healing offers healing reiki, meditation and sound baths. She also teaches reiki healing! So if someone in your life could use a little extra TLC or is interested in learning the reiki art this would be a thoughtful and unique gift.

Esthetician Services

We rarely take time for ourselves much less give the gift of self-care time to others. Jen Saupe over at Wisp Salon & Spa here in Parker can help pamper your skin while also helping you take care of skin issues you've been struggling with. Set up an appointment for yourself, or for someone in your life that you know needs to take some time for themselves.

Charcuterie

It's amazing how food can bring people together and that seems to be especially true of charcuterie! Gather to Graze offers various types and sizes of charcuterie boards. These are great to bring to holiday party or makes for a neat gift card idea!

Stretch Sessions

Are you good at getting your stretching in? Yeah...me neither. StretchZone here in Parker offers a membership or you can buy individual stretch sessions. Give the gift of stretching to yourself or someone you know that could use to loosen up (haha okay little joke there!)

Refillary

Okay okay we had to add ourselves didn't we? We offer more than just laundry soap (however, did you ever think that giving someone the gift of laundry/dish/hand soap is the gift of saving them from another errand?!) here at Refillary! We have many eco-friendly household items that make not only awesome presents for the recipient, but are a gift to the planet too! We have several different pre-made gift bags but would love to help you design your own for that special someone. Can't decide? We have digital gift cards as well!

We are certain you can find the perfect gift, even for that hard-to-shop-for person, in this list somewhere! Have other suggestions? Let us know! We'll add them!