Alright! It's going down! I've been talking about 'buying Native' this holiday season, and I'm sticking to my word!I've been so busy with the Boutique business and with other work commitments that I haven't had a chance to shop for gifts! Until now, that is.
We decorated my tree this past weekend, and Todd put up lights outside around my house in the bitter cold, so needless to say, I'm totally feeling the holiday giving spirit right now.
I put on the Christmas channel on Pandora, ate some sugar cookies (covered with cream cheese frosting and doused in sprinkles) made by my 8 year old niece, and now I'm scrolling through the list of shops on the BUY NATIVE page, looking to rock this joint out.
So, without further ado, I present to you, my personal "Buy Native Christmas shopping list." This is the list of actual items that I'm going to buy (or have already bought) for my family members. This isn't a hypothetical wish list - this is an actual buying list because I want to demonstrate that it's totally possible and totally cool to BUY NATIVE (hint: click on the red font to see the products):
Gramma, aka G Unit: She's easy to buy for because she loves everything you get her (or at least she plays it off like she does). It's fun to buy for her because it's your chance to get her something special. She just moved into a new house, and it appears that she has a surplus of 'stuff' - so this year I'm sticking to usable goods. I'm getting her Sister Sky's Sweet Grass Hair Care Gift Set (because we love to make Gram's hair lush!) and I just had to snatch up the Sweet Grass on the Go kit since you get a lil bit of everything, which is always fun. I'm also really excited about getting her Mother Earth Essentials Healing Salve for Muscles because The Big G's legs have been giving her a hard time lately, and that's no fun.
Mom: Another easy one - my mom will love anything/everything. She already owns jewelry by TSOul, Kristen Dorsey, and David Gaussoin from the Boutique, so I'm thinking of branching out and getting her some home decor because her living room is quickly turning towards museum status with the art (a movement I totally support). I'm going to check out The Turtle Mountain Tribal Arts Association located here in the Turtle Mountains to get her some birch bark or red willow baskets and put together a cute gift assortment, since I'll also be getting her some Sister Sky goods. My mom is very fun to shop for, so I know I will end up buying her more stuff, and creating a 'gift set' sort of deal. In other words, I have a problem, and it's called "I love making stacked gifts":
Todd: Guys! They can be so hard to shop for sometimes... My mom and Todd have been together for over 15 years now, so he's an important dude in my life, and thankfully he's pretty easy-going when it comes to gifts. For the past couple years, I've stuck with buying my male family members zipper hoodies because they're useful in North Dakota and they look good on various body types (all these guys are rather fashionable too). So I'll be getting him a cool guy Alano Edzerza hoodie.
Jacki: My awesome antie Jacki is fun to shop for because we have similar taste and we like to ooh and aahh over really spectacular stuff. I decided to go with a bag by Nathalie Waldman because I know Jacki will flip out when she sees it. Nathalie is so awesome to work with - she's actually going to do a custom remix of the purse below to better match Jacki's fav colors of silver, blue, and black.
Dad: He's another easy-going dude and really just cares about being around family during the holidays. I usual try to get him some hunting gear, but I couldn't track down any Native-own hunting businesses, so I decided to go with the gift of food instead. I went with the Tanka Wacalapi Gift Basket by the Tanka Bar company because it comes with coffee (yum, right?!), a mug, Tanka Bites, Tanka Bars, Tanka Wild Sticks, Tanka Wild Gourment Summer Sausages, and a braid of sweetgrass. It's basically a little bit of everything they sell, so you get to check out all the yummy goods. So really I just picture us all vegging out around this bin. And it's all gluten-free, nitrates-free, MSG-free, and hormone-free.
RaeLynn: RaeLynn has been with my dad for decades now, and she puts her family before herself. She's the type who makes sure everyone has eaten before she eats. Her personal fashion style is simple and no fuss, but I want to give her something small and special this year. So I talked to Kristen Dorsey about turning her Loksi earrings into a special Loksi pendant necklace, and I'm very excited about how it will turn out!
Jona and Lonnee: The oldest of my two sisters, Jona has taken the pressure off of me and Lonnee to have kids by having two beautiful boys herself. Thank you Jona! Haha, so with that in mind, she keeps busy with work, kids, and house and husband, so I want to spoil her a lil this Christmas. On the flipside, my baby sister Lonnee loves the finer things in life, so this is something that we all three have in common (haha, among other things!). I'll be getting these lovely ladies each a pair of classy Loksi earrings along with a Loksi leather wrap bracelet both by Kristen Dorsey (so they'll match their mom and her Loksi necklace!), and a bonus pair of full-out fun graphic Andrea Preston earrings.
Evan and Chance: My brothers-in-law! These guys are awesome and they take great care of my sisters. They're both rather dapper good-looking guys, and I usually get Evan some deer hunting stuff, and Chance some athletic/chill gear. This year, I'm going with cool duds by Alano Edzerza - the Black Smoke Hole Tee, Charcoal Sea Monster Tee, Raven Tee, Red Sea Hoodie, Natural Formline Hoodie, and Charcoal Raven Hoodie are all top picks, now I just need to narrow it down.
Easton and Chase – My tiny nephews! Kids are easy to buy for because they love toys. Yea! But finding Native-made toys proved to be a teensy bit of a challenge. So I was super pumped to find these mega-cute bath toys, puzzles, and puppets. Easton and Chase will each be getting an assortment that they can share and play with.
Christina and Kevin: So technically speaking, Christina is my cousin, but we grew up together like sisters, so she gets treated as such. She's tough to buy for because I just can't settle on stuff for her, and now that she's married (to an awesome dude) I get another brother. I'm going to attempt to land them a Gift Card to Mystic Lake Casino, since they like to travel to the Twin Cities to catch a Vikings game or other activities. Sometimes, you can't buy people stuff, you have to buy them the opportunity to get away together and have some fun (and besides, they are still newlyweds in my eyes, and I totally owe them a couple of honeymoons).
Taisyn, Laney, and Christian: These are my teen nieces and nephew. Teenagers! Another tough category because you have to consider the 'coolness' factor of everything. That's why each one of them is getting a pair of Candace Halcro beaded sunglasses. I seriously can't wait for them to rock these around town!
Tyra: This little girl loves pretty things. She's only 8 but is already a mean baker and a classy fashionista. When I launched the Boutique back in May, she was one of my biggest followers, on the site constantly, and telling me which items she liked (hint-hint). One of those items was a pair of Mea B'Fly Humma Bird earrings, so I decided to get her an assortment of Mea B'Fly small dangle earrings and studs. I know she will love them, rock them, and take good care of them.
So that's how it's going down! If you've got cool gift ideas, please share them here!