The best lil community Christmas gift guide!
Perfect for if you want to buy small (even tiny) and local!
Want a Christmas gift guide that gives back? Supporting small and local helps keep our hard earned dollars in the community where they belong. It’s a really hard time being a small business or artist or creative right now - anything you buy this Christmas for your whānau from them is like a double gift. One for you and one for them - I’m sorry, I’m exhausted dealing with some family stuff! Please excuse me, I know I’m not being very eloquent! Some days eh? Anyway, let’s go!
In no particular order….here are some awesome creators, artists and small (and sometimes tiny) businesses to support!
Kim, the owner of Whakakai Earrings, is a māmā of three. I love her upcycled, beautifully crafted Māori earrings. They’re really affordable too.
Handmade, hot, queer, soy candles created in Tāmaki Makaurau? What more could you ask for? Sybs is the best. Shop candles or classes!
Samantha of The Samantha Room is a Takatāpui, Kai Tahu artist with the cutest, funniest, best stickers and art around.
Ruby Solly is a national treasure, a Kai Tahu musician and taonga pūoro practitioner. She has made 248 different pūtangitangi, all part an exhibition called (Pū)oro. You can buy one or pay it forward for one here.
Looking for a book by a New Zealand author? You have to go to BookHub. It’s the best ever - basically you can search any author and they will tell you which small bookstore has the book! Then you can go directly to that bookstore online and have it mailed out to you! It has all authors - not just authors from Aotearoa, but truly, it’s a double gift to buy a book by an NZ author because we are broke lol.
Oh look - you can find my books on Bookhub!
I feel like I have so many friends I want to buy the Homo Sweet Homo welcome mat from Agnes and Edie for. Everything they have in their online shop is just too awesome.
Read: Your passive aggressive gift guide
Aml was born in Christchurch and moved to Gaza 20 years ago, she has had to come back to Aotearoa since the genocide broke out. She’s making art to raise money for her family still in Gaza. You can buy it here, and read more about her story here. I love these adorable badges.
House of Rehua sells Rongoā Māori Traditional Plant Remedies - everything from oils to bath salts.
Tortoise and Hair is ethically made slow fashion out of Te Whanganui a Tara. Each of their garments is carefully crafted from sustainable, locally sourced fabric and yarn.
Sky Pirates make very cool tees and art in collaboration with other artists. They recently collaborated with the lovely Capilli Tupou (Ngāpuhi / Te Rarawa / Pava'ia'i / Safotu).
The Alphabet Book Club is an online bookstore selling books and products with positive LGBTQIA+ representation. It has amazing books but also a very cute pay-it-forward program.
Bloody Samoan has Kill the Bill tee shirts raising money for Outline! And The Samantha Room also has Kill the Bill stickers with $1 from each sticker going to Mana Tipua.
One of my absolute favourite shops - Moana Fresh - is a marketplace and community space celebrating Pacific and Māori artists, creatives and authors indigenous to Moana Nui a Kiwa. I love their tee shirts. Especially the Toitū te Tiriti Kaupapa Tamariki Tees by Melanie Tangaere-Baldwin.
AHI RARANGA is a proudly takatāpui Māori run business providing hand woven taonga and wananga. I’m obsessed with their hoops.
I just love the Whatu Creative tukutuku toi kits - such a unique and fun gift idea.
Aho Creative has the most beautiful goodies if you have a little pēpi in your life.
I have asked my family to please give me a tattoo voucher for Christmas. I love Enchanted Realm - a queer and cool community tattoo studio - and they do the coolest vouchers!
I’m also hoping my kids will gift me a piece of art from one of the amazing artists at Dr Morse. I love supporting them because they do so much for others.
I cannot tell you how obsessed I am with Manaaki products made at Omaka Marae. I was at a wedding once and tasted literally the greatest chutney I’d ever had in my life. I went to the kitchen and begged the caterers to tell me what it was. It was the Manaaki Horopito & Feijoa Chutney. So this year I bought the gift set and took out that chutney to keep and wrapped the others separately to give to the aunties.
My husband loves the KamoKamo pickle and the Horopito & Garlic Sauce. I love that all of the proceeds go back into the marae and community! Buy here.
Have you ever seen a cuter pōtae than this? Our Taiao has the cutest stuff!
Finally, I wanna give a shout out to Iko Iko and Madame Fancy Pants who have supported every single fundraiser I’ve ever put on! Both are owned by phenomenal women and give so much to the community. Please support them!
And if you like - you can gift a subscription to my newsletter or any of the other great people who have newsletters. If you want more ideas for local businesses to support,
has a giveaway over on her newsletter.I’ll open up comments so you can share some of your faves too!
A rec from a reader: https://hapa.co.nz !!
This is an amazing gift guide, thank you! Needed gifts for our kids kaiako - tossing between the whakakai earrings or the kawakawa balms.