With winter break quickly approaching, it’s time to start thinking about holiday gift shopping. Whether you already have the perfect gift in mind for your special someone or are completely clueless about what to get your sibling, there are plenty of shops in Davis that can help you accomplish your holiday gift shopping.
The Artery
207 G Street
The Artery is an artist co-op with about 70 artists, each of whom are voted in. The artists work co-op hours to keep the store going.
“People can find anything they want here,” said jeweler and co-op artist Victor Gabriel, who specializes in Native American jewelry. “We have everything: wall art, fabric art, wood work, jewelry, wind chimes, ceramics, et cetera.”
Colorful handmade candles, ceramic dishes, paintings of cows and landscapes, photographs of nature, a nautilus sculpture and hand carved chess boards are just a sampling of the work that is for sale at The Artery. Prices range from a few to thousands of dollars.
To make gifts even more unique than they already are, Gabriel said that a majority of the artists will take special orders.
Hand Made Creation
233 F Street
Hand Made Creation is a family-run store that features handmade clothing, accessories and a variety of other items from Nepal. Owner Raju Manandhar believes that quality is everything, and he knows first-hand how important that is because his family sends him new handmade items straight from Nepal. He personally travels there to get new merchandise for his store.
“Almost everything is from Nepal. It’s something very unique and you can find something different here,” Manandhar said as he showed the vibrant colored scarves that his family makes back in Nepal.
The store offers a variety of gifts ranging from wool and cotton scarves, clothing, bags, slippers, tapestries and other items like dream catchers and jewelry. Manandhar keeps the prices as low as possible because he knows that a lot of students are on a budget.
“The most popular things among the youngsters are the bags and scarves,” Manandhar said.
A hemp bag costs $25 and each one is unique with multi-colored embroidery, shells or beads. The store has an extensive selection of scarves with different textures, material, designs, colors and even glitter accents.
Candy House of Davis
901 Third Street
With 30 types of specialty truffles, fudge, chocolate covered fruit and nuts and chocolate in the shape of anything from a Christmas tree and Star of David to a guitar and a cat, the shop is guaranteed to satisfy a chocolate lover’s sweet tooth.
“We make candy the old way, handmade is always better,” owner Osman Sunny Maiwandy said.
Some of the truffle flavors include gourmet dark, café latte, peanut butter and Grand Marnier. The truffles are pyramid-shaped and come in jumbo and petite sizes. Both are under two dollars each.
“We use special European chocolate,” Maiwandy said. “A lot of people really like our dark chocolate truffles.”
The Candy House also sells assorted truffle gift boxes, solid chocolate figurines and lotus balls. Lotus balls are chocolate shaped lotus flowers that are packed full with a variety of truffles and candies. They come in three sizes and cost up to $55.
Nestware
207 F Street, Suite B
Nestware is a cozy gift shop that relocated to its current location earlier this year. It has everything from clothing and jewelry to collectible Bauer pottery and kitchen accessories.
“People will find fun, unique, quirky things they won’t find anywhere else,” co-owner Lynne Ferda said. “Good things for Mom and Dad before you head home.”
The store just amped up for the holidays and is full of sparkly Christmas tree ornaments, like pastels balls with glitter peace signs and little chickens.
“We’ve done a good job at keeping prices accessible. Everything is about $5 to hundreds of dollars,” Ferda said.
The shop gets inventory from the U. S. and Europe, and popular items include their unique jewelry, clothing, bags and candles.
The Luxury Out House Company
207 F Street, Suite A
For all natural handmade body scrubs, oils, salts, soaps, robes and lingerie, The Luxury Out House Company is a one-stop shop. All of the products are made with quality ingredients and come in a variety of tantalizing scents.
Owner Maza Webb insists visitors try the sugar scrub, which is their most popular item. The scrub will leave your hands and body silky smooth, and you will never use a different scrub again after trying it, Webb said.
Some of the body product scents include lavender vanilla, coconut mango, green tea cucumber, pear and green apple mint.
The store also features custom gift baskets, and they are happy to help shoppers pick out scents and gifts for their significant other.
CASEY SPECHT can be reached at features@theaggie.org.
