Best Places For Handmade Gifts In Los Angeles
Keep holiday gifting fresh this year by shopping locally and seeking out handcrafted gifts. Handmade gifts speak volumes, making everyone on your list feel extra special. Local shops featuring artists, jewelry designers and crafters are popular throughout the year when whimsy and untraditional beat out boring and overly trendy. This holiday shopping season, find interesting art, one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces and heart-warming pieces for gifts at these five shops around Los Angeles.
Mindfulnest
3319 W. Magnolia Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91505
(818) 840-0123
www.mindfulnestonmagnolia.com
Mindfulnest is an all in one shopping destination. As an art gallery, gift shop and jewelry store, Mindfulnest curates some of the top artists around presenting handmade merchandise to its clientele. What’s great about the shop is the way it merchandises items within the store. Holiday time brings out creative displays throughout the shop, highlighting crafters including hand-cut silhouettes by Candice, greeting cards and posters by Paper Sparrow, Cozy Comforts’ skirts created with repurposed fabrics and Soaps to Live, a fragrant (lemongrass sage, thyme lemongrass and lavender rosemary) soap collection with inspirational words carved into the bars. Kyle Chan stone-centered bracelets and necklaces are always beautiful gifts to give.
Ten Women
1128 Montana Ave.
Santa Monica CA 90403
(310) 393-6254
www.tenwomengallery.com
About to celebrate its second anniversary on the chic Montana Avenune in Santa Monica, Ten Women is an artist owned and operated cooperative featuring a wide variety of art, jewelry and mixed media pieces. Many of the artists featured are local to the Los Angeles area. There is something for everyone here and much of the art makes for touching holiday housewarming gifts and BFF gift exchanges. A British artist living in Venice, CA, Anthea Brown shares textile collage art, linoblock prints, pillows and dolls influenced by her interest for American folk art and South American weaving and crafts. Kara Taub’s block-colored woven scarves, metal jewelry designs by Summer Knight of Santa Monica and photographer/digital artist Faye Horowitz all have original and wonderful pieces at Ten Women.
Rose Bowl Flea Market
Rose Bowl Stadium
1001 Rose Bowl Drive
Pasadena, CA 91103
(626) 577-3100
www.rgcshows.com
One of the most popular flea markets in the Los Angeles area is the Rose Bowl Flea Market, which takes place the second Sunday of every month (rain or shine). It is a treasure trove for handmade holiday gifting. Los Angelenos can literally spend hours walking the five-mile area of aisles, taking in all of the market’s 2,500 vendors. Put your scavenger shopping hat on and seek out handmade furniture and home décor, pottery, baby and toddler handmade bibs and room accessories, handmade quilts, jewelry, knitted hats and scarves and so much more. The made-to-order food options are outstanding including the cheese pupusas, Louisiana hot links, gourmet pretzels, frozen lemonade, beer and wine, too. Make sure to have cash on you.
Littlejohn’s Candies
6333 W. 3rd St.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 936-5379
www.littlejohnscandies.com
If your mother taught you right, you know you do not show up empty handed when invited to someone’s home. Head over to Littlejohn’s Candies to pick up several gifts that you can bring over during the holiday party season. This historical candy shoppe, which began in the 1920s in Los Angeles by Mr. and Mrs. Littlejohn, continues to make mouthwatering batches of English toffee, its signature confection. Conveniently located in the Los Angeles original Farmers Market next door to The Grove, Littlejohn’s Candies offers an indulgent selection of gourmet English toffee, freshly made caramel squares, chocolate-dipped dried fruits and old-fashioned favorites including chocolate honeycomb, divinity, fudge and almond bark. Holiday boxes are available.
Mush
1617 Silverlake Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(323) 664-6874
www.m-u-s-h.com
It's all handmade at Mush, where Hollywood comes to furnish its stylish homes, find props for movie and television show sets and shop for the one on your list who has everything. Items are made locally as well as internationally, and the team at mush can give you the 411 on the artists. Sweet stocking stuffers and Christmas Eve gifts include handmade pillows, license plate art, sterling silver rings, repurposed jewelry featuring vintage elements, as well as the store’s namesake blended Zen teas.
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