If you’re anything like me, you’ve waited until the last minute to do your Christmas shopping. Perhaps it was out of good intentions to savor this season, to rest, and to scale back on the holiday crazy. But more than likely you just procrastinated, like me. I for one was sitting on my couch in a turkey-and-football daze while the early birds were scoring deals on Thanksgiving evening. (Let’s not even get into how crazy it is that “Black Friday” starts on Thanksgiving now – as in, during Thanksgiving dinner.) And then somehow Small-Business-Saturday and Cyber Monday passed me right by. And now, here we are, just over a week to go till Christmas, and panic is starting to set in.

So I figured, perhaps you too might be in need of a few helpful ideas when it comes to Christmas gifting this year. Below are some of my absolute favorite items I’ve been using lately (and a few that are on my wish list) – they’re all budget friendly ($35 or less) and would make great gifts or stocking stuffers for Christmas!

Books:

Bread and Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table with Recipes by Shauna Niequist – This one is a given. This Wild Season is named after a quote from this book, and I believe anyone who loves food should read this book (that’s all of you.) Shauna is the most wonderful storyteller. She weaves recipes and cooking tips into stories from her own life in a way that keeps you hungry for more.

The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman – Smitten Kitchen is one of the very first food blogs I ever followed. Deb creates and tests and retests recipes till they’re just perfect. This cookbook is full of deliciousness – I’m still working my way through it, but so far everything we’ve tried has been amazing! It feels like more of a fall/winter cookbook to me, so it’s perfect for this time of year!

The Yellow Table: A Celebration of Everyday Gatherings by Anna Watson Carl – I’ve mentioned Anna’s story on the blog before. Just over a year ago she started a journey to create her own cookbook and has since road-tripped about the country, having dinner parties along the way, sharing her story over on her own blog, and now her book is published! I got my copy in the mail last week and have been reading it cover-to-cover. I can’t wait to try her recipes in our own kitchen!

Kitchen Gizmos and Gadgets:

Cuisinart Smart Stick 2-Speed Immersion Hand Blender – I raved about this immersion blender in my recipe for Butternut Squash Soup recently, but here’s a link for the actual one we use. I love this thing. We use it often to blend soup as it saves you the trouble of pouring hot soup into a blender, doing multiple batches, wondering where you’ll put the blended soup – back in the pot or do you dirty another bowl? All that is simplified by using an immersion blender. It’s also perfect for blending smoothies, salsas, sauces, and pretty much anything you’d use a regular blender for. I love that the bottom is detachable to make it easy to wash as well!

OXO Good Grips Smooth Edge Can Opener – This is a totally weird gift, but I love mine so I had to share! Perhaps it would make a funny stocking stuffer! This can opener leaves a smooth edge on both the can and lid so you don’t have to worry about slicing your fingers. It’s a little tricky to figure out when you first get it, but once you get the hang of it then it’s a breeze. The option available online now is a sleeker design than ours, but it works the same way.

Food Network’s Silicone Set – We got these for ourselves last year for Christmas and I hardly use any other utensils when I’m cooking. The spatula and spoonula (isn’t that a great name?) are the two we use the most, but I love having the full set. I’m a firm believer that if you have beautiful kitchen utensils you’re more likely to use them. These are silicone, so they’re comfortable in your hand and extraordinarily heat-resistant.

Paper Straws – These are just for fun. How can you not be happy when drinking out of a striped straw? We love having these around for parties, casual dinners, and really for any occasion.

Bonus Ideas:

Rifle Paper Co. Botanicals Notebook Collection or Midnight Garden Recipe File Box – You’ve certainly seen Anna Bond’s designs floating around the internets, and for good reason. Her work is simply beautiful. I love these little notebooks a friend gifted me – they’re the perfect size to carry around in my purse, and I use them to write down recipe ideas, business goals, and even gift ideas. The recipe file box is the spiffiest way to store those tiny recipe cards you’ve collected from your grandmother. Rifle includes their own adorable recipe cards so you can add your own recipes to your collection.

The Giving Keys – One of our brides for next year works for this company in LA and I just love the idea behind what they do. First of all, they employ people who are looking to transition out of homelessness. Each key they make has a word on it such as hope, dream, belong, or courage. The idea is that you wear your key until you encounter someone who needs the message you wear – at that point you give your key to that person. What a beautiful gift, and an incredible conversation starter!

Chelsea Market Cookbook – This is on my wishlist for Christmas. When Tim and I were in NYC for the first time back in September we stumbled upon the Chelsea Market – we literally knew nothing about it. (Had I heard of it, it would have been on our must-see list!) We were actually headed to see the High Line and walked right past the market on our way from the subway. It was so much sweeter that way as we felt like we had “discovered” this hidden gem in New York City. Anyone from NYC would probably laugh at us for not having heard of it – oh well. If you’re not from the city, the Chelsea Market is a collection of shops, restaurants, bakeries, and all around amazing food. This cookbook is a compilation of recipes from the various chefs and restauranteurs associated with the market.

Grain & Compass Fine Art Prints – Our print shop is open and we just updated it with photographs from our travels this year! We have prints from every corner of the US with a few from South America as well. Each print is mounted on a backboard so it can stand-alone or be put in a frame.

Give a gift that’s personal – Think about what your strengths are. Is there something you’re good at, something you enjoy doing or creating, something personal you could give of yourself? This adorable succulent and owl planter were given to me by my friend Deedie – she’s a floral designer, so it makes perfect sense coming from her! It was such a sweet surprise when she showed up to our coffee date a couple weeks ago with this darling little plant in hand! What thoughtful, personal gift could you give away this year?

This post contains affiliate links, but all opinions are my own.