Holiday Gifts – 2020 Featured Finds

Posted : November 10, 2020

Our blog is chock full of great ideas for fun things to see and do in York Durham and Headwaters. We are always adding new content and updating old posts, but sometimes you might stumble upon something from our vault. If this article has inspired you to hit the road, be sure to double-check that the featured stops in this post are still welcoming visitors.

When the holidays roll around, gift-giving immediately bubbles to the top of everyone’s mind. We here at YDH don’t think that this yearly tradition has to be a chore. We suggest getting into the spirit and making the most of this daunting task by planning a weekend road trip, gathering unique handmade treasures for your loved ones along the way! Alternatively, you can stay in your jammy-jams and shop from the comfort of your own home and shop online.

We’ve sent our elves out ahead of time to scope out the scene, and they have put together a list of featured finds that are sure to please everyone on your list.

Lavender-Blu

Lavender-Blu is a small family business comprised of a hobby farm, a lavender garden and a lavender artisan studio. Their mandate is to beautify their community, to create unique hand-made artisan products as well as to educate individuals on the subject of lavender.

Featured Find: Lavender-Blu Hygge Comfort Box

Lavendar Blu Comfort

Lavender-Blu Hygge Comfort Box encapsulates coziness, happiness and enjoying life’s simple pleasures. It is filled with warmth, comfort, simplicity and relaxation. It is like a Hug-In-A-Box!

In Scandinavia – Hygge translates to a quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment & well-being. It is embraced during the fall/winter seasons to help us find calm within during the dark times of the year.

Your Hygge Lavender-Blu Comfort Box includes:

  • Culinary lavender buds for your tea and baking needs
  • Lavender honey to sweeten your tea, desserts or morning toast
  • Lavender essential oil for your bath – use 5-10 drops of oil for a relaxing warm bath or use the oil in a diffuser to breathe in the calm
  • Relaxing lavender pillow spray for sweet dreams
  • Lavender sachet for your drawers
  • Soothing solid lotion bar for natural body care of dry winter skin
  • Two lavender & citrus botanical soaps – a large body bad and a round guest soap

When shipped, they Hygge card will be inside the box along with a wooden ornament and a few lavender stems!

Buy Lavender Comfort Box


Forget Me Not Alpacas

Forget-Me-Not Alpacas is a farm in Beaverton, Ontario selling beautiful soft and warm alpaca products such as amazing alpaca yarn, batts, blankets, hats, mitts, socks, insoles, dryer balls and toys. Raising alpacas is a very sustainable and gentle type of farming that is easy on both the land and animals.

Featured Find: Alpaca Mittens

Alpaca Mitts

You’ll love these cozy, soft mitts that are 80% alpaca and 20% nylon. Great for our Canadian winters. One size. Available in white, gray and black.

Buy Alpaca Mitts


Theatre Orangeville

Theatre Orangeville is a live professional theatre located in historic downtown Orangeville. Founded in 1994, Theatre Orangeville plays a vital role in our vibrant arts community. Since its conception, Theatre Orangeville has been dedicated to almost exclusively using works by Canadian playwrights.

Featured Find: Artistic Director David Nairn’s Cocktail Recipe Book – Raise Your Spirits!

Coctail and Keys

Queen Victoria cut her whisky with red wine and the Margarita is not the national drink of Mexico. In Raise Your Spirits! 21 Cocktails in 21 Acts Theatre Orangeville’s Artistic Director David Nairn mixes, shakes and stirs up an entertaining how-to book, to expand your skill and range of fancy alcohol-based drinks. Not surprisingly, each cocktail is lovingly directed like a tiny one-act play. With his trademark humour and sublime story-telling David pours with a steady hand in these unsteady times. Raise Your Spirits! delivers fun, with a twist. It’s a must-have addition to any well-stocked liquor cabinet or seasonal stocking.

Pre-Order Book


Blue Heron Books

Blue Heron Books is more than a bookstore. It is the hub for all things cultural in the quaint town of Uxbridge. Established in 1989, the store services over 100 area schools and an astounding 27 book clubs. Lucy Maud Montgomery, during her tenure in nearby Leaskdale, belonged to the long-standing Hypatia Book Club which continues to this day and celebrated its 100th year anniversary in 2008. Known for its top-notch event series offered spring and fall, as well as the Book Drunkard Literary Festival annually at the end of October, in addition to numerous classes and programs for adults and children alike, Blue Heron Books offers something for everyone.

Featured Find: Eating Out Loud: Bold Middle Eastern Flavors for All Day, Every Day | Hardcover Book by: Eden Grinshpan and author event “Eating Out Loud with Eden Grinshpan”

Book
Eating out Loud

Discover a playful new take on Middle Eastern cuisine with more than 100 fresh, flavorful recipes.

“Finally! Eden Grinshpan is letting us in on her secrets of her healthful and deliriously delicious cooking.”–Bobby Flay

Eden Grinshpan’s accessible cooking is full of bright tastes and textures that reflect her Israeli heritage and laid-back but thoughtful style. In Eating Out Loud, Eden introduces readers to a whirlwind of exciting flavors, mixing and matching simple, traditional ingredients in new ways. For anyone who loves a big, boisterous spirit both on the plate and around the table, Eating Out Loud is the perfect guide to the kind of meal–full of family and friends eating with their hands, double-dipping, and letting loose–that you never want to end.

Buy Book


Eat My Shortbread

Eat My Shortbread is a 100% Canadian brand with fresh premium products that combine playfulness with the traditional familiarity of homemade baking to delight in every bite. Baking people happy since 1994, their nut-free/peanut free handmade shortbread are free of added preservatives. You don’t need to read the label to know that we only use real ingredients.

Featured Find: Stash Box

Eat my Shortbread

The Ultimate Stash Box is filled with 15 – 16 full size baked goods made in small batches with the best ingredients and a whole lot of love! 

Sure to satisfy your craving for scrumptious baked goods, you will receive the Queen Baker’s selection of the following:

  • Buttertarts x 2 (one original and one baker’s choice)
  • Scones x 2 (bakers choice)
  • Cookies x 6 (bakers choice)
  • Shortbread Singles x 3 (1 of each top flavour)
  • Salted Caramel Brownie x 2
  • Shortbread Crack x 2 bags of 125 g

Sometimes the Queen Baker throws in a little Baker’s Surprise. It could be something that she is working on and wants your feedback about or just something extra. Trust me, she loves ‘extra’.

Buy Stash Box


Bistro’67

Bistro ‘67 offers guests a memorable field-to-fork dining experience within Durham College’s award-winning W. Galen Weston Centre for Food (WC), where community, local agriculture and learning come together. Meals are prepared and served by their skilled staff and students who create flavourful dishes inspired by fresh ingredients from the WC’s own gardens and other local suppliers across Durham Region.

Featured Find: Meal Kits and Shareables

Harvest Bowl

All orders are prepared with the highest standards of quality in mind.

Order online and indicate your preferred pick-up time within our new pick-up operating hours Thursday to Saturday 3 to 6:00 p.m.

Please note: some online orders, such as our family and shareable meals, may take up to one business day to process. All other orders we are requesting two hours advance notice to process for pick-up. We will email you to confirm your order and provide pick-up instructions.

PLEASE NOTE- Menu items will be available while quantities last.

Buy Meal Kits and Shareables


Rosemont General Store

Rosemont General Store carries an array of specialty foods, housewares and products for you and your home, including Drury Tea, Laura’s Luscious Desserts, Sheldon Creek Dairy, Bridlewood Soaps, Rescue & Transform, Perth Soap Co. and much more!

Featured Find: Be the Maker Stuffed Animal

Stuffed Owl

Do you love being the maker? this is the kit for you! 

All kits come with everything you need to bring your new friend to life and only take 4 to 6 hours to complete, perfect for a rainy day project or long weekend at home with the kids.

You can even turn the box into your new friends own custom house. 

  • Each Kit includes Everything needed to make a one-of-a-kind Cate and Levi’s Stuffed Animals.
  • Premium Reclaimed Wool, no two Stuffed Animal Making Kits are identical, as each kit has a unique colour combination
  • Time: Approximately 4-6 hours. Difficulty: Beginner – Intermediate. For Children Ages 8 and up
  • Includes: Premium Reclaimed Wool, Detailed Instructions and Pattern, Hand Sewing Needle and Thread, our Signature Eyes. And the best part… Zero Waste!
  • Proudly Made in Canada by a family-owned business

Buy Stuffed Animal Kit


The Weathervane

he Weathervane, nestled in the historic village of Erin, Ontario, offers an imaginative selection of gifts and home and garden accents for life’s many celebrations! From casual home décor, to rustic garden furniture and delightful garden accents.

Featured Find: Canoe & Beaver Tic-Tac-Toe

Tic Tac Toe

Wooden play set elevates the common game of tic-tac-toe to a whole new level! Carved wooden canoe and beaver pieces make this simple game that much more enjoyable. Fun game to play and display – at home, cabin or cottage. Great gift for the whole family. 9″ square

Buy Tic-Tac-Toe


Pace Pottery

The Farmhouse Pottery is located on the Hockley Road just outside of Orangeville – an hour’s drive northwest of Toronto.

A Message From Studio Potter Allan Pace:

This Christmas will be like no other. The gallery is overflowing with gift ideas created by hand and brimming with heart and soul. To ensure a safe shopping experience, book an appointment online or by phone for a private gallery viewing or shop online!

Featured Find: Adventure Cups

Salmon Adventure Cup

Adventure Cups are part of a tradition that originated in 1987 on one of my earliest Arctic canoe expeditions. I created a set of small wine cups with a different motif on each cup – reflecting the various personalities within the group.

Each evening while in camp, the cups were unpacked and wine would be served and a toast to the day’s adventure was made. At the end of the trip, each participant was presented with their Adventure Cup as a memorable keepsake.

Buy Adventure Cups


Dog Tales Rescue and Sanctuary

Dog Tales is a world-renowned dog rescue and horse sanctuary set on an incredible 50 acres of green fields, rolling hills, and wooded areas in King City, Ontario. Our picturesque location – complete with kilometres of walking trails, therapy pools, and a grooming spa – is the perfect setting for abused and neglected animals to heal and be rehabilitated while they wait for forever homes. For the rest, Dog Tales is home for as long as they need it to be.

Featured Find: Pawliday Gift Boxes

Pawliday

Give the perfect gift this ‘Pawliday’ season. Pawliday Gift Boxes are filled to the brim with a carefully selected assortment of toys, outfits, leashes, treats and tons of accessories. They will have you and your furry friends howling for more! They have created boxes for dogs of all sizes. You will have the chance to try many of the wonderful products from businesses all over.

All proceeds will go directly to the animals in their care!

Pawliday Gift Boxes


Hockley Valley Resort

Hockley Valley Resort, where we believe nothing matters more than your experience. From the moment you arrive, you’ll be treated with genuine hospitality and surrounded by comfort and elegance. Whether you visit for a weekend getaway, a romantic dinner, an afternoon of golf at their 18-hole championship links, a day of skiing, a conference or for a special event, your stay will be enjoyable, and memorable long after you leave. You don’t have to go far for a real escape!

Featured Find: Snow Globes Dining Experience

snow globes image

Experience Hockley Valley Resorts newest culinary theatre, the Snow Globes. Enjoy a farm to table, 5 course meal with Adamo Estate wine pairings. Twinkling lights, your own music, faux fur throws, a heater (to take the chill off) and candlelight to complete the setting.

Buy Snow Globe Dining Experience


McMichael Canadian Art Collection – Gallery Shop

Twenty minutes north of Toronto, surrounded by 100 acres of northern landscape and hiking trails, the McMichael’s 6,500-piece Canadian art collection, including works by Tom Thomson, the Group of Seven, their contemporaries, and First Nations, Metis, Inuit and contemporary artists, attracts over 100,000 visitors annually from all over the world. Experience the art of Canada at the McMichael.

Featured Finds: Books – A Like Vision: The Group of Seven & Tom Thomson and Group of Seven Special Collector’s Edition (Digital Issue)

Book

A Like Vision is a lavish celebration of the legacy of Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven, Canada’s canonical landscape painters. The Group’s depiction of the rugged beauty of the Canadian landscape – from the coastal mountains of British Columbia to the north shore of Lake Superior, the villages of rural Quebec, and the rocky, windswept coves of Newfoundland – charged Canadians to experience their country in a bold new light and changed the face of Canadian art forever. Through their vigorous and expressive painterly style and vibrant colours, the Group of Seven significantly contributed to Canada’s sense of autonomy and identity as a modern state in the aftermath of the First World War. Featuring three hundred full-colour images.

Group Of Seven Canadian Geographic Book

The Group of Seven truly had a way of capturing the geography of Canada — not just in a topographical way, but in conveying a sense of place through their art. 

This special collector’s edition digital download came together with the support of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection. 

The Group of Seven Special Collector’s Edition will be available in very limited quantities on newsstands this fall. Get your digital download today! 

Buy Books


Wizards Emporium

Calling all Muggles, wizards and witches! Wizards Emporium has arrived at Upper Canada. The LARGEST Harry Potter gift shop in Canada. The magical store is filled with Harry Potter merch, candy, wands, goblets, chocolate frogs, and more! You can also snap a photo to Platform 9¾ and visit the Hallows Express Wand Shop to cast some spells of your own. Main location is in Pickering. Online sales are through York Durham Heritage Railway. Limited stock available.

Featured Find: Harry Potter Mystery Wand

Wand

The Wand Chooses the Wizard Mr. Potter” -Ollivander Harry Potter Mystery wand blind bag contains 1 of 9 12 inch wands, a wand box, and a 3D bookmark that matches the character. Character wands include Luna Lovegood, Nymphadora Tonks, Lord Voldemort, Harry Potter, Harmonie Granger, Ron Weasley, Draco Malfoy, Neville Longbottom, and Death Eater. Open the bag for a Magical surprise!

Buy Wand


Velvet Sunrise Coffee Roasters

Velvet Sunrise celebrates all of the intricate details that affect the fragrance, the flavour, and the freshness of coffee. Obsessing over the precision of every coffee they source, roast, brew, and serve, Mark & the team at Velvet Sunrise want to deliver to you the best cup of coffee you’ve ever had. It’s all a matter of the attentiveness that’s given in every single step of the way.

Featured Find: Coffee Subscription

Coffee

Buy a subscription of your favourite person’s favourite coffee. There are plenty of options to choose from, and you can give them the gift of 3, 6 or 12 months of coffee along with how many bags per month.

Buy Coffee Subscription


The Chef Upstairs

Virtual Interactive and In Studio Cooking Classes for Kids, Teens, Adults, Private Events and Catering.

The Chef Upstairs located in Vaughan features an intimate dining experience with celebrated chefs & spectacular food. Whether it’s a cooking class or special event, you’ll find our chefs’ passion for food and fun makes every occasion memorable. Gift cards make the most delicious gift, for foodies of all ages!

Featured Find: Gift Card

Cooking Class

Gift cards are available for virtual and in-studio cooking classes, private chef at home for 2, or in the amount of your choice Ideal for birthdays, wedding gifts, anniversaries, shower gifts, Christmas and all holidays, retirement and thank you’s! Your gift card code will be e-mailed to you shortly after your purchase. For a customizable gift card, please send them an email after your purchase.

Buy Gift Card


Holland Marsh Wineries

Holland Marsh Wineries is an award-winning boutique winery, dedicated to producing premium hand-crafted wines from vineyards situated right in their own backyard in Newmarket, Ontario. Visit their 22-acre estate which features handcrafted wines and friendly, professional service.

Featured Find: Wine Club Membership

Holland Marsh

New Wine Club – Locally sourced charcuterie paired with their famous hand-crafted wines, shipped right to your door every quarter!

Buy Wine Club Membership


Looking for more gift ideas?! Check out our YDH Holiday Gift Special Article below.

For more gift ideas, visit the YDH Virtual Market

YDH Virtual Market

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