’Tis the season for the seventh annual PDD Gift Guide — a list of holiday gift ideas with a local connection. We present 15 ideas to get things started, and invite everyone to add their own suggestions and links in the comments below.
Keep your notes and great ideas safe and sound with this reusable leather journal cover from Hemlock Leather Works, handmade by Candace LaCosse in her Downtown Duluth studio.
$22
The latest book by award-winning author Margie Preus is a young-adult adventure set in 1800’s Japan. It’s available at local bookstores and at margipreus.com.
$16.95
Bring sparkle and “crystazzle” to your life with handcrafted jewelry by Crystal Pelkey, local woman-about-town and artist.
$20+
218 Gift makes cool, simple designs on shirts, stickers, glasses and more. Let people know where home is with a “Minnesota Home” screen-printed baseball tee.
$29
Inspired by cooperative board games, like Pandemic, local game designer Lance Hill created this biblically themed game and then produced it after a successful Kickstarter campaign.
Available at Funhill Games.
$44.99
Whether you’re kayaking silently or zipping around on a jet ski, keep your keys off the bottom of the lake with a Paddle Floaty Keychain from Sota Clothing.
$8
If craft beer isn’t your thing, you can still tote home a growler filled with a tasty beverage. The Snooty Fox Tea Shop makes its kombucha from fermented organic green tea and cane sugar.
$16 (with a $4 initial deposit)
Don’t call him “outgoing Duluth Mayor Don Ness.” He’ll reply: “No, I’m an introvert.” His new book of essays and reflections on his “curious political journey” is filled with photos and other contributions from various Duluthians. It’s available at local bookstores and at donnessbook.com.
$24.95
The region’s newest brewery opened earlier this year in Grand Marais. Though distribution channels haven’t brought the beer to Duluth to any reliable degree yet, a collection of Voyageur Brewing Company clothing and other goods, such as the featured stainless steel growler, is available to order online.
$45
Available at the Birchhaus pop-up cart or online at birchausmarket.com.
$44
Sugarplums be damned. True Duluthians have visions of chocolate ore boats dancing in their heads. Available at Hepzibah’s.
$3.99
The book mural from the big round wall of the downtown library, now wrapped around your coffee. Available at Duluth Public Library branches.
$10
Duluth director Mike Scholtz’s documentary about competitive jigsaw puzzling shows how mild-mannered Midwesterners turn into stone-cold competitors. The soundtrack features music by Duluth band Portrait of a Drowned Man. Available from iTunes, Amazon, Hulu, Bandcamp and more via wickerkittens.com.
Show the world where you and your favorite beverage are from.
Dlh Clothing
$15
There’s a dry sense of humor in photographer Cameron Witting‘s series of prints titled “Duluth Typology.” His shots of Duluth are a stark contrast to his equally funny color shots of famous landmarks from around the world.
$150
The recommended links below point to previous Holiday Gifts Guides, but keep in mind, like ghosts of Christmases past, internet links change and disappear as time goes on.
