The holiday season is back again and I am OVERJOYED to be sharing my gift guides again. I love seeing what goodies have been carefully picked out by opinions I trust, and having things sorted into categories honestly just makes the process so so easy!! I L.O.V.E. putting these together, getting to showcase some of my favourite brands and local small businesses, and imagining these beloved items wrapped up and under your trees waiting for your loved ones 🙂 AH it brings me such joy <3 <3 <3 Alsoooo, the gift guides miiight just give a sneak peek into what’s on my list of 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways… 😉 More details to come soon!

This final gift guide has two parts to it. I wanted to focus on giving back to the community and the people that make your gatherings possible! 1) For the community, we have items you can buy that donate partial proceeds as well as suggestions of places to donate to!! 2) We want to hostesses & hosts as the miracle party planners that have been organizing for months to make everything perfect, including devoting a lot of their time and energy (and probably money) into making sure YOU have a great night. Even when the event is underway they’re still on the clock!! It’s hard to quantify how much goes into any given event, so I put this list together with things that will help them destress after everything is cleaned up and things that will inspire more gatherings in the future! Everything here pairs nicely with a bottle of wine 😉

Gifts that Give Back

You’ve probably already seen Toques From The Heart on a few of my gift guides already, and now it’s time you know why: not only are their toques soft and stylish, but for each one purchased, they give a toque to a Canadian experiencing homeless. This year TFTH has a goal of donating 35,000 toques- so every purchase brings them one step closer to achieving that mission!! I really love their Merino line, but they have a ton of Classic options as well as Hockey Team Toques…  because I mean we live in Canada so that’s kind of a requirement 🤪 Each one has a hidden “stay warm together” message stitched onto the back, talk about heartwarming ❤️

Cuddle + Kind provides 10 meals to children in need for every doll sold. Check out this page to read all about their efforts, it’s SO impressive and inspiring what they’ve done! They donated almost 7.5 million meals by the end of 2018. We have Elliott the Fawn in Bence’s woodland themed nursery (stay tuned for the reveal!!) and I love love love Henry the Bunny as well.

You might have seen Duckish in my Gift Guide ‘For Kids’, and I have a few other goodies from them here: Their Boom Box (“Curated Wellness for Tired-Ass Women” = RELATABLE) is a quarterly wellness box filled with snacks, supplements, and a bunch of other goodies to help you “get a great night’s sleep, nourish your skin, and nurture your soul (ie. help you stay sane)” LOL. $5 from every box is donated to the YWCA to help support their amazing programs for women. Rejoice! 

Also, check out Duckish’s Plastic Free Shower Care Gift Set which includes a shampoo bar, a conditioner bar, and a body wash bar — these will CHANGE YOUR GAME. Protip: if these are at risk of being exposed to water when you’re not using them (like if you have a shower caddy that hangs under your showerhead), cut them into 4 pieces so if one disintegrates you have a second chance! (or a third, or a fourth haha.)

Through their partnership with Mealshare, Fable Home donates a meal for every set of dinnerware purchased. And they have SUCH beautiful sets to choose from. I particularly love Serving Ceramic Set and the Dinnerware Set, and you can use LANGSTONNATALIE10 for 10% off ❤️

Suggestions for places to donate in someone’s names – Dress to Success, Mamas for Mamas

Our Place pans – okay yes we’ve all seen the Always Pan literally everywhere (I mean they’re probably 20% of my ads on YouTube so thumbs up to their marketing department) HOWEVER after 1.5 of aggressive advertising I learned that they have pretty amazing institutional practices. The company (which has recently expanded its line to include the Perfect Pot) works to create systems-based change in their communications by directing attention to causes they believe in, including the LA Food Policy Council which you can donate to here. 

The Kuwallatee design process takes place in Montreal and they are a member of the 1% for the Planet movement, meaning that at least 1% of their sales go towards environmental causes. That sounds like a pretty good philosophy to follow. Gary loves his Combat Joggers by them!

Urban Barn has worked on a few cool campaigns to help give back in recent years. Read here to see what they’re up to now!

PK Beans has a great recycled materials program to check out. 

Skincare etc

(Okay, so I already did a pretty thorough skincare section in the Gift Guide ‘For Her’ but here are a few other goodies… I just couldn’t resist!)

Hosting any type of gathering is HARD WORK so help your hostess relax with this Jade Eye Mask!! It helps to reduce the appearance of puffiness, dark circles, and fine lines so this would even be great before the event if there’s a few minutes to spare.

SPOIL your hostess with Clé de Peau’s La Creme. This is the ULTIMATE anti-aging nightcream and the packaging is drop-dead beautiful. I also love their Le Sérum and this special packaging by Michaël Cailloux!!

Sangre de Fruta’s lovely The Botanical Hand Duo – I love the matching products and their packaging. Especially right now (#pandemic) you can never have enough handsoap or lotion!!

Bonus beauty tip: having extra phone cases around will help your spruce up your mirror selfies! I love this Gold Sparkle Smartphone Case for a little extra shimmer – just make sure you have the correct phone size for whoever you’re buying it for!

For the Living Room

A fun card game to pull out at future events! This ‘Would You Rather?’ one is PERFECT for groups since there aren’t any rules to learn.

I don’t think you can ever have too many candles… so how about this beautiful Northern Fir Candle from The Lake? I also love The Holiday Collection by Cat & Tae. All of their candles crafted in Vancouver come with a seeded dust cover, so you can plant it in soil and watch the wildflowers grow!!

I’m OBSESSED with this wrapping paper from Wrinkle and Crease. They have such beautiful yet minimalist designs that are recyclable & eco-friendly! And check out their “You Are Hard to Buy For” Ribbon, LOL. They have really beautiful agendas and weekly/monthly planners as well!!

Having little scents to keep in your purse or in your bedside can be such a godsend for when you need a little extra comfort! This Calm Mood Roller looks super small and perfect and RELAXING.

Silver Satin Eye Mask, Pillow Case and Scrunchie Gift – it’s a set of five so it’d be super cute for a girly sleepover (we can still have those right??)

There are two types of people: the ones who lose their lighters and the ones that collect them. That’s why everyone should have at least one lighter around that’s either doesn’t look like it’s a lighter in the first place or is too big to pocket LOL. This USB Candle Lighter looks more like a thermometer than a fire-producer so it’s ideally inconspicuous – just hide it in your ‘junk drawer’ and nobody will be the wiser 😏

For the Foodie

You know that feeling when somebody asks for a non-alcoholic drink and you realize all you have for them is water or juice? No one, especially the recipient, likes that feeling. A bottle of a fancy non-alcoholic aperitif like Figlia’s Fiore would be a back-pocket SUPERSTAR for those nights. With notes of rose, bitter orange, and clove, this can spice up a spritz or be sipped on its own to help with digestion.

Umm… Let them (have a credit to a delicious and beautiful cake shop so everyone can) eat cake!! Cassandra Cake Co is a Food Network CHAMPION and makes such beautiful cakes for any occasion. I’m telling you that her Instagram is WORTH the follow. Like, look at this sushi cake??? And this beautiful, delicate, purple, pearl, butterfly cake??? And this bumble bee hexagon??? I die.

Okay I’m not saying that you should strategically gift one of your girlfriends 5 of these Hot Chocolate Mug Sets, that satin eye mask one, and a ‘Would You Rather’ Card Game, so that she throws one of the best girly sleepovers since high school… but I’m also not not saying that. I don’t know, maybe you conspire with the other ladies in your friend group and all give one of these to whoever has the best living room/TV situation so she throws the bash and you can all watch Crazy Stupid Love together and ogle at Ryan Gosling’s body? Haha I don’t know what a silly idea that I definitely haven’t been secretly plotting for months 😉😏

These Linen Napkins from Fable Home are sooo beautiful and high-quality. They’d also be great as a wedding gift.

A bottle of wine is the classic contribution for a dinner party or house warming or holiday gathering. Jackson Family Wines has a ton of delicious options to choose from- I LOVE La Crema Chardonnay, a Pinot Noir from Julia’s Vineyard is super approachable, or a Cabernet Sauvignon from Freemark Abbey is an impressive & rich choice that will pair perfectly with red meats and chocolate desserts… *licks lips*

Ninja Kitchen are the masters of ‘do-it-alls’ and they sure have hit the nail on the head with this XL Pro Grill and Griddle. It air-fries, roasts, bakes, grills, and dehydrates all while taking up minimal space in your kitchen. I feel like this would be great for beach and camping cook-outs, too.

This Mini Cheese Board Gift Set is so cute and festive and has everything you need for a little winter picnic. 

OMG sometimes I just need the feeling of a latte without going out for one, so having a Milk Frother at home makes making my own such a treat. There’s been such a surge of fun latte powders and adaptogen blends around, like turmeric lattes and matcha and mushroom coffee blends, which I LOVE but have such a hard time blending properly without the proper tool!! This is that tool. Pair with a bag or two of fun Blume blend powders and you’ve just stocked the ultimate offering for when a guest doesn’t drink coffee! 

Oh my gosh, after putting this together I am SO PUMPED for the holiday season!! I hope this helps you to give some badass and inspirational gifts to the hosts and hostesses that are helping to create cherished memories with your loved ones this holiday season. And goodness knows this one’s extra special after having to be apart last year!! Doesn’t mean we don’t still have to be careful, but I for one am grateful to not be doing all-Zoom-everything again this year 👩‍💻💤

What’s the best hostess gift you’ve ever received? Or given? Tell us all about it in the comments below!! I’d love to know what gifts you like to give to make your hosts feel extra special and thanked for their efforts ❤️