How's that holiday shopping going? The first night of Hanukkah is Dec. 18 this year, and of course Dec. 24 is Christmas Eve — if you haven't got everyone crossed off your list yet, we've got solutions. Get yourself in that holiday mood, then find inspiration in our lists of local products (below), or check out our roundup of seasonal makers markets.
IDA'S PICKS:
Dirty Water by Debt Neglector, from SmartPunk Records
For the music lovers in your life, you can buy local, support Orlando artists and donate to an important cause all at once with Debt Neglector's Dirty Water album, available on local imprint SmartPunk Records. Ten percent of all proceeds from the sales of this record go to Flint Kids Fund and Sylvester Broome Empowerment Village. You can purchase the record online or in SmartPunk's brick-and-mortar location near UCF. (smartpunk.com)
Fortune Scratch-Off Candles from Hellcats USA
Hellcats USA is the wife-and-husband collaboration of Brittany Reagan and Clark Orr. The two and their team have mastered the aesthetic of dark joy, serving tough and tender goods that make your heart sing and drop. All of their products are designed and packaged in-house, with many of their made in their studio here in Orlando. Their scratch-off candles are handcrafted treasures, and each comes with a "lucky penny" to scratch off your fortune. (hellcatsusa.com)
Lavender vanilla sugar scrub from Naked Bar Soap Co.
Naked Bar Soap Co. takes inspiration from co-owners Natasha Byrd-Gaylon's and Jennifer Peets' Black-Latina roots to create plant-based bath and body products accessible to everyone. The gateway to self-care is a sugar scrub, so you know that person in your friend group who works too much and never takes care of themselves? This is the gift for them. (nakedbarsoapco.com)
"Say Gay" T-shirt and "Theme Park Scum" patch from Secret Society Goods
You've probably seen these iconic "Say Gay" T-shirts around town. Now here's your chance to buy one for yourself and all your friends. Devised by Secret Society Goods, the shirts are a fashionable way to expose those massive corporations who profit off the LGBTQIA+ community and then put that money in the campaign accounts of homophobic and transphobic politicians. Ten dollars from the sale of each of these shirts will be donated to Equality Florida. While you're getting the T-shirt, we also recommend the "Theme Park Scum" patch, a fitting pair as you protest with pride. (secretsocietygoods.com)
NICOLETTE'S PICKS:
Chain bolo tie from Chainkiller Jewelry
Adorn your favorite goth or punk with handmade chainmail by Orlando's Amanda Little. Little's stylish stainless-steel bracelets, earrings and necklaces are the perfect accessory for anyone who prefers silver. Chainkiller Jewelry is available at Winter Park oddities shop Prometheus Esoterica. Have a specific vision? Little takes commissions as well. (etsy.com/shop/chainkiller)
Yellow gold jewelry by BVLA from Drift Piercing Studios
Surprise someone special with high-end jewelry or with the piercing they've always wanted. In addition to piercing services, Drift carries high-end gold body jewelry from Body Vision Los Angeles. With something for all tastes — rose gold, black diamonds, adorable ferns, white gold cats, genuine opals — it's an excellent choice this holiday season. (driftpiercing.com)
Art classes from Maitland Art Center
For aspiring adult artists, purchase a drawing, painting, jewelry, pottery or printmaking class reservation from Maitland Art Center. Classes run weeks at a time and quickly fill up, so be speedy with this educational gift. (artandhistory.org)
Coffee and classes from Lineage Coffee Roasting
Lineage offers coffee subscriptions and upcoming classes on the Fundamentals of Coffee Brewing, Cupping and Your Palate, and Espresso Tasting and Technique. (lineageroasting.com)
Dried floral arrangement from Janet's Dry Humor
Check out The Heavy and Porch Therapy for goodies by Janet's Dry Humor. Dried floral arrangements and custom bouquets make for an enduring gift. (porchtherapy.com/janets-dry-humor)
Spell candles, glasswork or rose aura quartz earrings from Goose Hands Craftwork
For the freak artist fairies in your life, nothing beats queer handmade jewelry by Goose Hands Craftwork (who's also in charge of @glow.house.orlando). You can find sustainable and vegan options, wire-wrapped stones, chainmail, hand-cut glass and more on their Instagram or in-person at holiday markets around town. (instagram.com/goosehandscraftwork)
Gift cards from Matcha Cafe Maiko
Satisfy someone special's sweet tooth with a gift card to Matcha Cafe Maiko. The dessert shop sells black sesame, Thai tea, matcha, ube soft serve, lattes with premium ceremonial grade matcha from Kyoto, shaved ice, parfaits, sundaes, floats, sponge cakes and more. (cafemaikoorl.com)
MATTHEW'S PICKS:
The Sam Rivers Sessionography by Rick Lopez
Since the late 1990s, jazz historian Rick Lopez has been fully immersed in the body of work of free jazz legend Sam Rivers, who called Orlando home in the final years of his life, finding a new audience and new collaborators in a dazzling last burst of creativity. In a career that spanned six decades, the prolific saxophonist performed on stages around the world and took part in countless recording sessions, all of which Lopez lovingly compiles. Additionally, the book is packed with photography including a shot or two by our own Jim Leatherman. Catch up with this much-missed titan. (bb10k.com/RIVERS.disc.html)
Ervin Berlin "Junior's Got Brain Damage" 7-inch single from Total Punk
In the late 1970s, Orlando-based trio Ervin Berlin bashed out this unintentionally great, gloriously dumb single, played a few shows and then disappeared. Luckily for us, though, ex-Orlandoan Rich Evans found it on Discogs and forthwith reissued it in full vinyl glory on his Total Punk imprint. A great gift for punks young and old, along with those immersed in old Florida ephemera and weirdness. (totalpunkrecords.bandcamp.com)
Spill Your Guts Out! Barf Bag tote bag from DarkAndSticky
No longer the sole province of NPR fanatics, tote bags have gone mainstream. And few totes can match this spine-tingling new design from local fiends DarkAndSticky. A loving/grotesque homage to the 1963 Herschell Gordon Lewis exploitation classic Blood Feast, the tote design features grindhouse imagery and over-the-top ad slogans for the film, making it the fashion accessory no horror freak can live (or die?) without. (etsy.com/shop/darkandsticky) And while we're talking bags, you can't go wrong gifting the sleek SR50-branded Varsity Crossbody Bag from the local creatives who run the always-intriguing and daring SR50 Magazine. (r50magazine.com)
JESSICA'S PICKS:
Florida! book from A24 Films
They may be based in New York, but there's a weird mind-meld between A24 and the Sunshine State. Some of their best-known movies were made in and about Florida (Spring Breakers, Zola, Oscar-winner Moonlight in Miami and, of course, The Florida Project set right here in Orlando). This almost unclassifiable book — not a history, not a travel guide, not a coffee-table book but some combo thereof — comprises 500 pages of deep knowledge from locals in each part of the state, adorned by impeccable illustrations and flawless book design by Gabe Alcala. It busts boundaries just like the filmmakers — and the state. (shop.a24films.com)
Refurbished typewriters from Joybird Books
Tippity-tap your way through a list of New Year's resolutions or a family letter with a typewriter — it's a form of composition that's as much art as rhetoric for those who've only ever written on computers. The Audubon Park used bookstore has begun stocking affordable manual and electric machines for sale or rental. (joybirdbooks.com)
Helen House from Zeppelin Books
Speaking of writing, pick up a paperback copy of Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya's spooky novella Helen House, published by local imprint Burrow Press. It's a meditation on grief, horror, sorrow and eroticism that has a lot to say in its not-so-many pages. You can find it at all the usual places, of course, but why not patronize Orlando's newest bookstore, Zeppelin Books, located in the North Quarter Market at 885 N. Orange Ave.? (kaylakumariupadhyaya.com)
Gift cards from Gold Dust Home
And speaking of new stores, if you haven't already stopped in, you're overdue for a visit to Shelby and Allie Sloan's new home goods boutique, Gold Dust Home, on Lang Avenue (where Mills 50 shakes hands with Ivanhoe Village, and we'll leave it to you to decide which neighborhood you think it's in). An exquisite selection of the Instagram-hottest in candles, chunky mugs, whimsical glassware, puzzles, table linens, planters and more awaits, with an emphasis on the colorful and handmade. This is the kind of shop where browsing and choosing are as much a part of the fun as the item you take home, so choose a gift card to maximize your giftee's enjoyment. (facebook.com/golddusthome)
