Coming back at you with some more small businesses you can be supporting this Christmas! Please check out Part 1 and Part 2 for some more ideas. This has been a difficult year financially for so many people, so please chose to shop small wherever you can!

TAKE A CHANCE BOOKS

My friend Esme recently set up her own Etsy store where you can have a blind date with a book. Take A Chance Books is a really unique way to buy a special gift for your book loving friend. You get told three hints for what the mystery book may be, as well as the genre that it belongs in. They’re all wrapped in recyclable brown paper and come with a tea bag to help you wind down. It’s honestly the perfect stocking filler! What makes this Etsy store even more wonderful is that they are donating 10% of all profits to The Trussell Trust Food Banks. So you will be supporting a small business and a food bank at the same time! Christmas aside, this would be the perfect gift for yourself at any time of the year. With your order you will also receive a personalised list of book recommendations to inspire your next read. You can follow them on Instagram for updates of new listings!

COCOBA

I’m sure we can all agree that Christmas… is about chocolate. Cocoba has a really great range of chocolate treats on their website that would make a perfect gift. You may have seen the TikTok trend recently featuring hot chocolate bombes. Well you need look no further than Cocoba for some of the best hot chocolate bombes out there! They even have a whole vegan range. It’s always wonderful to see inclusitivity. I have been told their salted caramel ones are the best!

ARTERBO ART

I really wanted to gift someone some personalised artwork this year and found this Etsy store by chance. The prices are very reasonable and the end result is beautiful! ArterboART did an incredible job of recreating the image I sent to them. I was so pleased with the final piece! When I placed the order I was told it could take some time for me to receive it but they sent me the artwork within only days. It was so unbelievably quick! I genuinely thought it would take at least a week but they were super efficient. I even became that awkward customer when I requested some adjustments at the end and they were able to accommodate me. If you’re looking for a personalised gift this year I would highly recommend this artist!

GAY IS THE WORD

I know, I know. Another bookshop recommendation? Yes! This one has come in from my friend Michaela who recommended this little gem. Gay’s The Word is the oldest LGBT+ bookshop in the UK, opening in 1979 with the goal to create a safe space for gay literature. The bookshop itself may be small, but they have an abundance of books across many different genres for you to browse. In the current climate books are such a great thing for anyone to have so you can’t go wrong with this gift!

KISS THE HIPPO

In my previous posts I’ve recommended a couple of places to get loose tea leaves from, so I thought I’d mix it up and recommend a place for coffee instead. My friend Amy swears by Kiss The Hippo’s coffee and I trust her tastes implicitly. They sell some very unique blends of coffee, all of which sound delicious! You can also buy coffee pods from their website as well which are compatible with Nespresso machines. They sell other bits and bobs too to complete your gift. Maybe the cold brew bottle? Or the french press? This gift would definitely be appreciated by coffee lovers everywhere!

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Thanks to my friends Amy and Michaela for contributing, and a huge congrats to Esme for setting up her Etsy store!

Do you have any Christmas online shopping recommendations? Let me know in the comments!