Made In Your State Gifts

Where do you shop for gifts?  Do you fight the crowds and traffic?  Do you order everything off of Amazon or Walmart.com (both great resources for USA made products)? Are you the person that gives everyone gift cards?  There is no best answer, I have done all of the above.

Over the last couple of years, I have used referenced The 2019 Made in America Holiday Gift Guide published by The Alliance for American Manufacturing for my shopping.  It is a collection of gift ideas from each state including natural skincare products made in Arizona, a massage ball from New Jersey and eyewear frames from Tennessee.  All amazing gifts made locally and most of them are small family-owned businesses.

Last year when developing our Made In Your State page for our website I noticed that there were a lot of “Made In X State” websites out there.  For example, if you Google “Made in California” several websites appear including Made in California Gourmet Food and Gifts where you can find fun gifts like glass drinking straws, olive oil and of course wine.  I travel a lot and I love giving “local” gifts to my friends and clients.  I live in San Francisco so I tend to bring Ghirardelli chocolates and Jelly Belly jelly beans, both made locally in the San Francisco Bay Area.

When shopping for gifts for my local friends and family I tend to shop for gifts while traveling or at local craft fairs.  A couple of years ago I fell in love with soy candles I found at a fair. I couldn’t remember the name of the company/person who made them so I Googled “soy candles” and found my go-to shop for gifts – Soyworx.  With fragrances like Monkey Farts, Fur Baby Mama, Ahh Spa, and Elf’s Breath I can find a gift for everyone.

Holiday shopping can be overwhelming and impersonal at times.  If you are tired of fighting traffic and giving gift cards and packages of lotion, turn to your computer.  Use The 2019 Made in America Holiday Gift Guide, Google gifts made in your state, or see what random goodness you find when you type in “Made in the USA” on amazon.com.  I just found a family-owned business that makes dog products in North Texas – Sancho & Lola’s Closet.

Shopping online – locally – a win-win all around!