‘Tis the season to shop till you drop. Right?
Before you start clicking on Amazon and walking the aisles at huge box stores, consider supporting your local businesses. There’s something special about buying a local product. It’s a more thoughtful gesture, and your purchase is a gift to the business owner as well as the gift recipient.
Here are a few of my favorite picks that include gourmet gifts, clothing, skin care and digitizing service:
MaD seasoning
Gift this to the chef in the family or a college student wanting to stock their kitchen with some staple seasonings.
Local chef Mattdad sells these seasoning salts at farmers markets and at local stores. My favorite one is the ranch seasoning. It’s easy to make ranch dressing with the seasoning, and you don’t have any preservatives like the store-bought varieties.
Find the seasonings all over Hampton Roads in many retail locations such as Taste, Lazy Daisy, Kitchen Barn, VA Vintage and many more. Go to mattdad.com to find locations or order online.
Veg Out Organics
This local vegan skin care line was started by a husband and wife team who wanted to create organic and healthy products. Their waterless formulations contain no bleach, dyes or synthetic fragrances. The non-GMO and toxin-free products come in moisturizers, body oils, mask, eye creams, etc.
The magnesium body lotion is one of my favorite products in their collection. I use it on sore muscles. You can go to vegoutorganics.com to see their holiday gift deals and special bundles. Find the products in local stores such as The Well, Green Cat, The Beauty Tree Spa, Hemp House and others.
Born Primitive
We are lucky to have a homegrown athletic and lifestyle apparel brand located at Hilltop Shopping Center. The global, online brand has been around since 2014.
After trying their leggings years ago, I became a huge fan of their clothing. If you want to buy something other than workout gear, the store sells denim, shoes and a line of soft, stretchy flannels that would make a great gift for college students. Visit bornprimitive.com.
Corey Langley’s digitizing service
It’s the time of year when families gather for holiday events, so why not gift something to the entire family?
Recently, I used this service to transfer my family movies from 8 mm reels, VHS tapes and discs into one convenient flash drive. I wouldn’t trust these cherished memories with a non-local company. These treasures need to be hand delivered, and the service is performed in Virginia Beach by Corey Langley.
Call 757-422-6064 or email corylangley@cox.net to arrange the drop off. Preserving family memories is the best holiday gift anyone could wish for.
Preserve your family memories by having them digitized locally by Corey Langley’s service. (Lee Belote/For The Virginian-Pilot)
Dee’s Peanut Butter
Give a creative and gourmet gift that everyone in the family can enjoy. Make an elevated peanut butter and jelly with this dessert- like peanut butter spread.
Dee’s carrot cake flavor is best right off the spoon. I’ve enjoyed dipping my banana in the jar and adding it to my yogurt in the mornings. If you want to be extra decadent, use it in a peanut butter cookie recipe. Dee uses local peanuts, fresh from Suffolk, to craft her seasonal flavors.
Look out for her new holiday jar of peppermint crunch peanut butter. Find her products at local farmers markets, retail stores like All Good Granola/Life is Gouda and online at deespeanutbutter.com.
This gourmet flavored peanut butter is a great gift idea for the foodie in the family. Dee’s carrot cake flavor is best enjoyed right off the spoon. (Lee Belote/For The Virginian-Pilot)
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