I’m getting my holiday spirit on this week with a collection of indie items I’d be thrilled to receive for Christmas. I hope this collection inspires you to search local, buy small, and give the gift of supporting an independent business this year over the holidays!

Pro tip: when ordering from overseas or independent businesses, it’s best to plan ahead and purchase your gifts before December!

1. Be Yourself T-Shirt from Forensics and Flowers

It should come as no surprise based on my branding that bee-themed items have become an essential part of my wardrobe. Especially if they come in the form of a pun. I’ve been a follower of Forensics and Flowers on Instagram for a while, and would be thrilled to have Viki’s designs among my collection.

2. Emotional Rollercoaster Ticket Keychain from Liz Harry

I love a little ironic humor and a lot of embracing our flaws as strengths. As an emotional being, this charming design would make a nice daily reminder not to take the highs and lows of life too seriously.

3. Roll to Hit Art Print from Evangeline Gallagher

I’ve got a bit of the dice-hates-me-blues when it comes to D&D (seriously, how do people roll higher than 2?), but this art piece wins me over for being quirky, sparkly, stylish, and totally nerdy all at once. I’d be delighted to see it added to my gallery wall in all its high-rolling glory.

4. Today’s Three Tasks To Do List from Oh, Laura

As a work-from-home artist with a fairly short attention span, I absolutely love office tools that simplify my workflow. This sticky note turned to do list makes me oh-so happy because it’s also a gentle reminder that you can only fit in so much productivity into one day. Reasonable goals, people.

5. Reading Room Plaque from Book/Shop

Something about this no-nonsense signage takes me back to the days of sneaking out of the children’s section of our local library to find illustrated science books about horses and jungle animals. It would be such a fun accessory for our home library.

6. Plant Dude Art Print from Nan Lawson

Classic children’s illustration aesthetic and my very favorite starter Pokemon, could you find a better combination? I’m a huge fan of Nan Lawson’s artwork, which makes adding this to my wish list a no-brainer.

7. The Customer is NOT Always Right Enamel Pin from Jushmu

As a freelance graphic designer, this sentiment speaks to my very soul. I’m usually too nice to want to publicly complain about clients, but this one is so cute and sparkly I would totally make an exception. Bonus points for the inevitable bonding with customer service workers when I’m out shopping, especially around this time of year. Be nice, people!

8. I’m Not like Other Goths T-Shirt from LookHuman

What can I say, I like empowering messages and adorable skulls. Plus, any opportunity I get to subvert problematic literary tropes and embrace my dark side, I’ll take. We all need that one friend, right?

9. Composition Notebook Tote from Out of Print

I absolutely love the tote bags from Out of Print, which are sturdy, gorgeous, and quintessentially book-nerdy! Plus, I live in California (land of no plastic bags), so this is about as practical a gift as you’re going to get from me.

10. Color Wheel Enamel Pin from The Gray Muse

I’m enamored with these enamel pins! As seen by my color theory blog series a couple months ago, I am a huge color nerd. These spinning pins are clever, colorful, and oh-so cute.

Any gifts from this list you’d be ecstatic to see under your tree? Add these small businesses to your wish list and be sure to share your favorite shops in the comments section!

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