The 2025 Holiday Gift Guide
A curated holiday gift guide, crafted by local, independent, and creative artisans.
The people you love deserve gifts that mean something: objects made with intention, not algorithms. If those on your list deserve gifts with actual soul—things made by hand, sourced with intention, impossible to find anywhere else—here’s where to start.
We picked what we’d buy ourselves: objects that are made by independent producers, artisans, and creatives. Read on for what’s worth giving this year.
The Epicurean Trader
Best of SF Gift Box
Ancient Olive Trees oil, We Love Jam preserves, 9th and Larkin almonds, Craftsman and Wolves brittle, Tartine cookies, Four Barrel coffee, CC Made caramel corn. All made in San Francisco by people who've been doing it long enough to be great at it.
$160, theepicureantrader.com
Bernal Cutlery x Flour & Water
Prince Stainless Steel Pizza Cutter
For the pizza person in your life, or for yourself.
Bernal Cutlery and Flour + Water got tired of mediocre pizza cutters and asked Prince—the Japanese makers of some of the world’s best culinary tools—to build something that actually works. After 18 months of R&D, this pizza cutter is made from pristine stainless steel, and aptly named "The World’s Best Pizza Cutter”.
$78, bernalcutlery.com
Sommer
Green Botanical Body Oil
ACTIVIST Green Botanical Body Oil. Mānuka oil and green botanicals that actually sink into skin—omega-rich, handcrafted in New Zealand, good for all seasons and skin types. Smells like mandarin, tomato leaf, fir balsam, and something you can't quite name. The kind of oil that makes skin feel like skin again.
We're big fans of everything Sommer curates in their Bernal Heights shop—this one's a particular favorite.
$75, shopsommer.com
Traditional Japanese rice cooker from Yokkaichi City. Cooks rice the way it's supposed to taste—clay pot, cedar trivet, hinoki cypress spatula, and lid. Makes 3 go (about 2¼ cups).
The kind of thing you use every day and never replace.
$180, thehub-store.com
Graffeo Coffee
2 LB Gift Set
Two pounds of San Francisco's finest fluid-bed roasted beans, a gold scoop, brew guide, and space for a personalized note. Hand-packed in a box that looks like you thought about it.
For people who know good coffee, or people about to find out.
$70, graffeo.com
Melanie Abrantes Designs
Japanese Bowl Carving Kit
Everything you need to carve a small wooden bowl in an afternoon—traditional Japanese tools, basswood blank, sandpaper, instructions, Band-Aid. Easy enough for beginners, satisfying enough that you'll actually finish it. You keep the bowl and the tools.
Good for those who want to make something with their hands.
$160, melanieabrantes.com
Perish Trust
Ariel Clute Oyster Platter
Hand-painted oyster platter by Ariel Clute. Deep blue and red glaze, high gloss, one of a kind. Use it for oysters or hang it on the wall—it works both ways.
Ariel builds and paints each piece by hand in her Berkeley studio, bringing the kind of attention to ceramics that makes everyday objects feel like something more.
$625, perishtrust.com
Alkali Rye
Mez in the Dez Gift Box
For the desert (and Mezcal) lover. A satisfying kit of Madre Mezcal, Mexican bitters, vegan chocolate, fig salami, salsa macha, and two hand-blown heart-shaped copitas from Oaxaca. Everything you need for sunset drinks and snacks, to envision somewhere hot and far from home.
$120, sipalkalirye.com
A smooth beach stone set in sterling silver ribbon with British hallmarking. Wears alone or stacked, adjustable black cord. No two are the same.
$650, shop-soochie.com
Carousel Patisserie
Bûche de Noël Cake
A Chalet-shaped Bûche de Noël from Carousel Patisserie. Lemon madeleine cake, yuzu cream, coconut mousse, vanilla mousse, ladyfinger roof. The kind of dessert that makes people stop talking when you bring it to the table.
Serves 6-8. Limited quantity.
Tienda Salsita
2025 Wine & Salsa Gift Box
Serves gatherings well. Two Healdsburg wines (crisp Melon de Bourgogne, bright Pinot Noir) plus three salsas including a limited pecan-cranberry macha. Fifth year of this collaboration between two women-owned, small-batch Sonoma businesses.
$149, tiendasalsita.com
christine’s
Holiday Cookie Medley
Artisan and pure decadence, baked inside an organic bakery and eco-conscious space in the Mission. Five signature cookies—chocolate chip, chocolate walnut, pumpkin doodle, oatmeal brittle, chocolate crinkle.
$50, cometochristines.com
Abacus Row
Nousaku Plate
A century-old Japanese foundry that started casting Buddhist ritual objects and now makes tableware that looks like sculpture. Silvery tin with a golden detail. Use it daily or not—it holds up either way.
$146, abacusrow.com
