Shop Local: Ten Holiday Gift Ideas

It’s officially giving season, the ideal time to grab gifts for everyone on your holiday list. Whether you’re hunting for a candle that smells like Casa Bonita’s dive pool (and fir!) or handmade chainmail lingerie, there’s a shop in the Mile High City that’s certain to have just what you need.

This year, shopping small is the trend. Intuit QuickBooks estimates that consumers will spend $109 billion at small businesses during the holidays — a 44 percent increase from last year — as people are becoming more intentional with their money in the age of late-stage capitalism.

On that note, RiNo, home to some of Denver’s most eclectic collections of small, locally owned businesses, is offering The Art RiNo Passport, a $50 passport that unlocks exclusive offers, discounts and experiences across RiNo bars, restaurants, galleries, shops, hotels, and creative spaces through December 31.

Meanwhile, Colfax Avenue is doing something similar with the Fax Pass, where every visit, purchase and sticker that passholders earn helps local businesses during ongoing and disruptive BRT construction.

Here are some local gift ideas to get you inspired:

Seasonal Decor: City Floral Garden Center
1440 Kearney Street
303-399-1177
Woodstock-tuned, bamboo and hand-blown glass windchimes make a great gift for anyone who needs some zen this holiday season. If your loved one has a green thumb, go the extra mile by shopping City Floral’s selection of over forty varieties of poinsettias, including Winter Rose and Ice Punch. The store also has a wide variety of collectible Nutcracker and holiday decor.

Physical Media: Wax Trax Records
Four metro locations
303-831-7246
It’s nice to be able to hold your favorite album in your hands, whether on vinyl, cassette tape or CD. Wax Trax stocks all three! The venerable Capitol Hill store now has three other locations where you can browse through the large collection of new and affordable used media for a meaningful gift.

Colorado Beeswax Candles: Flower Street Farm
848 South Flower Street, Lakewood
303-947-8607
Flower Street Farm is a beekeeping farm that specializes in products from its hives and gardens. In addition to Colorado honey, soaps and oils, we love Flower Street’s handmade beeswax candles, which come in bear, cat, duck and dog molds. They’re almost too cute to burn.

Taxidermy: The Learned Lemur
2220 East Colfax Avenue
720-600-7585
Looking for a gift for a fellow weirdo? Check out the Learned Lemur’s large collection of taxidermy and other oddities.

Handmade Chainmail: Atomic Salvage
1309 Marion Street
@atomic_salvage on Instagram
Atomic Salvage has a great selection of vintage clothing, hand-printed designs and handmade jewelry in Capitol Hill, but store owner Jules Reed has also rbeen making unique chainmail designs. Know a Renaissance Festival or dark fantasy lover? Browse Atomic Salvage’s chainmail bonnets, gloves, ties and even lingerie.

Denver Matchbooks: Matchbook Club
@thematchbookclub on Instagram
Matchbook Club is built on the idea of curated nostalgia, with a collection of matchbooks representing local restaurant and business staples across the Mile High City, such as Steuben’s, Ophelia’s and Vital Root. Tim Lochtefeld started Matchbook Club after seeing a friend’s jar of old restaurant matchbooks that captured her life in New York City. “I wanted to build a brand that could capture that same feeling of connection to the cities and chapters that shape us,” Lochtefeld says. The Denver collection of matchbooks can be purchased here.

Limited-Edition San Miguel 5/6 Fly Reel: Stranahan’s and Ross Reels
stranahans.com
Two Colorado brands, Stranahan’s and Ross Reels, partnered to create a limited-edition fly reel that celebrates craftsmanship, Colorado heritage and the slower pace of river time. With a smoke-textured finish, engraving of the Roaring Fork River (where Stranahan’s got its start) and a copper circle honoring the distillery’s copper stills, the reel blends artistry and heritage. A white oak handle crafted from Stranahan’s whiskey barrels and pure copper accents complete this Colorado-inspired collectible. The reel is $850…but a portion of the proceeds from the collaboration will be donated to Colorado nonprofits The Greenway Foundation and the Roaring Fork Conservancy, supporting the waterways that run through the stories of both brands.

Casa Bonita Candles, Lunch Boxes and More: El Mercado at Casa Bonita
6715 West Colfax Avenue, Lakewood
casabonitadenver.com
Bring a piece of Casa Bonita’s magic home (or send it to a loved one). El Mercado at Casa Bonita has plenty of Pink Palace-themed holiday gifts at the ready, including a vintage-style lunch box, an ugly Christmas sweater and even candles that smell like sopaipillas and the restaurant’s dive pool.

Poetry Book: Begin Where You Are: The Colorado Poets Laureate Anthology
coloradopoets.org
Here’s a good gift for your poet friend. Begin Where You Are is the first-ever collection of poetry from all ten of Colorado’s poets laureate. Even better, proceeds from book sales will benefit Colorado’s next poet laureate, with the goal of enabling them to travel to more rural and underserved areas around Colorado. Order the book here.

Art Supplies: ReCreative
765 Santa Fe Drive
720-638-3128
Create a curated bag of unique art supplies for your crafty friend or family member at Westword‘s Best of Denver 2025 Best Place to Buy Art Supplies. ReCreative is a used art-supply store in the Art District on Santa Fe that has everything from needles, notions, fabric and yarn to paint, crayons, beads and markers. ReCreative’s merchandise comes in as donations and is priced low to make everything affordable and accessible, allowing shoppers to purchase a wide range and large quantity of art supplies at a great price. Are you an artist yourself? What you find at ReCreative just might inspire you to make your own holiday gifts!