I always think the two most difficult things about holiday gift buying are buying last-minute and buying gifts for people you don't know that well. This list is one I've used to help with both situations; hopefully, it will help you, too!
I admit, I was skeptical about Vanoc's Olympic goods at first, but if you haven't checked out the selection, you may be as pleasantly surprised as I was: there are some very cute things! The $10 Canadian team toque or $10 Christmas ornament are great choices for smaller gifts or for gifts mailed to family outside Canada. No time to order off Vanoc's site? Get most of the same goods at The Bay.
Cookbooks are often crowd pleasers, and many of Vancouver's best restaurants have their own, adding local flavour to the gift. The Blue Water Cafe Seafood Cookbook (from Yaletown's Blue Water Cafe) and Araxi: Seasonal Recipes from the Celebrated Whistler Restaurant have won Gourmand World Cookbook Awards for Best Chef Book in Canada and Best Seafood and Fish Book in Canada, respectively. West Restaurant's West: The Cookbook won Most Innovative Cookbook in Canada in 2008. Other great choices include C Food from C Restaurant and Vancouver Cooks 2 by the Chefs' Table Society of British Columbia.
Fabulous food is a perfect last-minute gift; it's easy to mail, too. Every year, I send Pacific Northwest favourites like smoked salmon and Chukar Cherries to my in-laws in Brazil. Meinhardt has a fantastic selection of sweets and elaborate food baskets; Kitsilano's Chocolate Arts makes wonderful hand-made chocolates.
For more last-minute holiday gift ideas, check out my Vancouver Gift Guide - Top 10 Shops for Gifts.
Since I'm always looking for new ideas (aren't we all?), please share your favourite local gifts!
Image Courtesy of Vanoc
Comments
This is an excellent compilation. Another source of excellent tips is TipTop’s gift collection where there are thousands of original suggestions available to pick from. I cannot promise anything local to Vancouver but still well worth a visit.
Thanks Shyam, and thanks for leaving your own shopping tip!
Thank you for yout tips. It is really a big headache to choose gifts, especially when the bugdet is not enough.The $10 Canadian team toque or $10 Christmas ornament seem nice. where can I find the $1gift like http://www.follosales.com?
I’m glad they help, Shelly. If you do find good $1 gifts, let me know!
Hey,
Do you know where I could find one of those Olympic Christmas Ornaments?
Laura,
Sadly, I don’t think they’re making them any more (I think it was a one-time thing for the Olympics.)
That said, try ebay or Craigslist. I bought a Vancouver 2010 Olympic sweatshirt (sold at the Bay the during the Olympics then discontinued) on ebay last year because I was too pregnant (9+ months) to try one on during the actually Olympics!