The holidays—they’re stressful. Cooking, cleaning, baking, gift giving, gift wrapping, planning, and planning noise. Noise noise noise. I’m starting to stress myself out already.
I think all of us, at some point, loaded up Google and threw in “Christmas Gift Ideas For… “x, y, and z.” I’ve always found researching gifts helpful and all. But it’s always hard to find something from local small businesses in my area. Google, come on. If I wanted Amazon, I’d have started there!
But I digress…
Thankfully, compiling this list of local Nova Scotia gift basket ideas for you has helped my local gift holiday conundrum. And in turn, will hopefully allow you to more easily access Nova Scotian local gift options this Holiday Season too!
So, without further ado, for your buy-local enjoyment, here are 5 gift basket themes collectively comprising 40 plus individual gift ideas from local Nova Scotian small indie businesses.
Self Care Nova Scotia Gift Basket
Remember that “noise noise noise” we talked about above? Let’s tackle that stress first. These items are all for your next self-care night and aimed at giving you, or someone you love, a little relief on their next hard-pressed week. This basket is aimed at getting all your self-care needs met, from aesthetic candle lights and locally made socks, to bath bombs and a nice drink afterward.
- Anchor Soap’s Lavender Soap
- Lodestone Soap Co Peppermint Patty Shower Bar
- Skin Essences Canada Gentle Facial Cleanser
- Simply Go Cosmetics Body Butter-(Avocado-Shea-Jojoba and Whipped-Lavender)
- Lavender Canada Lavender Bath bomb
- Momma Bears Boutique: Duckish Lotion Sticks
- Wildwood Creek Bloom Botanical Bath Bomb
- Albin Lane Apres Ski Candle
- Nova Naturals Pure & Silky Body Butter
- Nova Scotia Fisherman’s Facial Serum Sea Buckthron
- Rain Natural Skincare Banana & Chocolate Milk Face Mask
- Compass Distillers “Ginger Snap” Cocktail Kit
- Wildpier Beauty Deep Exfoliating Glove and Konjac Sponge
- Thief and Bandit Marigold Specimen Socks
Pet Care Nova Scotia Gift Basket
And you can always give some care to your furry friend. This basket is dedicated to giving you loads of treats and other options for your cat or dog—or someone else’s!
- Salty Dogs Barkery Wolffish Skins baked dog cookies and air-dried fish treats
- Simply Baked Paw Bites Dog Treats
- Boou Dog Treats Christmas Cookie Box
- Kept’s Grey Cat Cave
- Hen and Goose Blue Daisy Collar
- East Coast Sirens slow-feed dog bowls
- Dog and Cat Themed Pet Bowls
- The Dog Ate It Bakery and Gifts Dog treats (Image not available. Please visit their website for more info.)
- Lodestone Soap Co Dirty Dog Shampoo (Image not available. Please visit their website for more info.)
Kids Gift Basket… At least the Younger Ones
Kids can be hard to buy for. I get it. It’s often something you’ve either never heard of before, or an Xbox. So, for my own sake, this basket is going to stick to the younger kids. When they’re a little less complicated.
- Toy Maker of Lunenburg Push Duck with Flapping Feet Walking Toy
- Child at Heart Wooden Sail Boat
- Kept Knit Fawn Toy
- Nurtured Stainless Steel Popsicle Maker
- Toy Maker of Lunenburg Neuroblast Brain Teaser
- Kept Narwhal Knit Plush Toy
- Charles Haywood – Wooden Train Letters
- Storybook: Gus the Tortoise Takes a Walk
- Poetry: Driftwood Dragons and Other Seaside Poems
Tea & Coffee Gift Basket
I know very few people who are NEITHER tea nor coffee drinkers. So, to appeal to the masses, here is a basket made just for us all —tea drinker, coffee lover, or both.
- Java Blend Coffee, French Roast
- Roasted Coffee, Arabic and Turkish spiced coffee blends.
- Laughing Whale Coffee Wind in your Sails Medium Light Coffee Blend
- Cochrane Family Farm Wildcraft Tea from Nova Scotian History
- World Tea House Caramelized Pear Tea
- The Tea Brewery’s Canada Collection Tea Sampler
- Holdfast Ink Halifax Bridge Cork Coasters
- Button Pottery Speckled Mug
Chocolate & Snacks Nova Scotia Gift Basket
And last, but not least, the Chocolate and Snacks basket. Never best to leave things on an empty stomach. And nothing is better than some Nova Scotian local treats to brighten up the Holiday Season. Check out these delicious Nova Scotia morsels here!
- Jill’s Chocolates 12 Piece Nova Scotia Edition
- Peace by Chocolate’s Assorted Chocolates 4 Pieces
- Just Us Coffee’s Malted Milk Hot Chocolate
- Made With Local’s Blueberry Bar Grunt
- Chapel Cove Chocolate Sea Creatures
- Petite Patrie Balsam Fir Chocolate Bar
Heading Into the Holiday
And there you have it. Five locally sourced themed gift baskets for you, for this holiday season. Not to mention the multitude of pick-n-mix gift basket options you could make by selecting items from each themed basket. Though you may need to be a wee bit careful about mixing our Pet Care and Kids products—ha!
Hopefully, using this guide will help make the gift giving portion of this Holiday Season a little less of a headache for you. Not to mention providing lovely little local self-care gifts for you, while you’re at it! Bath-bombs, chocolates, and tea, to soothe holiday stress anyone?
For some more Halifax Local gift basket ideas, do check out Contributor Erin’s hilarious blog from ‘Christmas Past’, here.
And, of course, you can always check out our Local Gifts Category for even more cool Nova Scotia local gift ideas!
Got any favourite small local gift items and/or gift basket ideas from Nova Scotia providers? Please do share in the comments—we’d love to hear ’em!
