Day 5 - Shop Small

This is a Blogmas post I’ve really looked forward to writing, with the pandemic providing a real shake-up this year, it’s never been more important to shop local.

I thought that my Day 5 post would be a nice opportunity to draw attention to some small businesses in plenty of time for Christmas orders closing.

The UK’s high streets have been in disarray for a long time, with independent and sustainable stores disappearing in place of charity shops, betting shops and pound stores; many local businesses now trade solely online as a side hustle, so while we won’t necessarily give a boost to physical stores it’s certainly better than lining the pockets of the giant companies draining the life from our town centres.

Sew It Begins was launched by a super crafty girl I knew at school. Emma handmakes the most gorgeous products; her tartan Scottie Dog doorstoppers were showstoppers and right now she's got reusable face masks flying out the door.

Earlier this year Emma gifted me a selection of her fabric scrunchies and I can honestly say I must use them every other day! You don't realise how practical agood scrunchie is until you have one.

All of Sew It Begins products come beautifully packaged and would make lovely stocking fillers!

M.arté Aesthetics is another small business launched by someone I went to school with - check all these fab entrepreneurs coming out of Clydebank!

I absolutely love the aesthetic of Rica's page, everything is so dreamy and relaxed that when she got in touch to ask if I'd like to try out a few products I totally jumped at the chance!

The silk scrunchies are so luxurious and totally perfect for damaged hair as they're lovely and gentle, and the acrylic and pearl hair clips are absolutely gorgeous too.

I'm so excited to see where this brand goes!

Boxes of Blooms have a beautiful range of products with an eco edge to them.

From their cards printed on seed paper, gift boxes with rose soaps, candles and bath bombs, grow your own dinosaur scene, seed bombs and shower steamers; their gifts are beautifully presented and are super affordable, perfect for a secret santa or stocking filler.

Ola Pip is a candle brand run by Glasgow gal Nichola; sister of deal-hunting maestro Chloe from Chloe’s Deal Club.

The soy wax formulation of the candles means that as it’s a vegetable wax derived from soya beans, it’s a renewable resource and is biodegradable.

It’s also clean-burning, giving you a luxury product in a sustainable way.

In addition to this, there’s a refill service where empty candle jars can be refilled, recycled or upcycled. Other products available from Ola Pip are soy wax melts, reed diffusers and soy wax tealights.

La Menagerie are my favourite place for jewellery, their necklaces don't just look damn good, they do good too with percentage of sales from each place going to WWF.

Their origami-style necklaces are striking yet elegant enough for everyday wear and with their enormous variety of animals in both silver and gold you'll be spoilt for choice.

Each necklace comes beautifully packaged and their customer service is absolutely top class.

I have three of their necklaces and can honestly say they're a pleasure to wear.

My Sunday Studio is another absolutely brilliant jewellery brand, I’m so in love with clay jewellery and I’ve bought a couple of pairs from Taylor so far but with each drop she does I become even more obsessed with her products.

Despite only launching as a response to Covid 19, My Sunday Studio’s product range and quality is that of a well-established enterprise.

A brand that I haven’t personally tried but see KathrynInTheClouds rave about is Bertos Brownies.

Based in the southside and sharing the most mouthwatering photos of brownies they’re a small business that absolutely deserves a roaring trade in the run up to Christmas.

Their Brownies Gift Box allows you to select four types of brownie from their variety which includes biscoff, white chocolate with raspberry and salted caramel pretzel, while you could gift a jar of their homemade salted caramel sauce.

I best move on, I’m drooling.

Wax melts have totally boomed in popularity recently, and Savage Wax Melts is a brand I’ve followed on Instagram for a little while now.

While supplying popular scents such as aftershave dupes and fresh cotton, they also sell wax melts in quirk shapes like donut rings and games controllers.

In addition to simple wax melts, they also offer Christmas crackers stuffed with Christmas scents and a wax melt advent calendar, to ensure your home smells its absolute best on the run up to the big day.

Based in Edinburgh, Wee Blue Coo create colourful and high quality prints, and while they're supplying unique and exciting items for home decor they're also supporting Who Cares Scotland, an organisation for care-experienced children, young people and adults through the creation of a range with 100% of the profits doing straight to the charity.

There's a huge range of products, from technical drawings, vintage-inspired maps, snappy phrases to posters in a very Abram Games-style.

So if you're looking for something to brighten up your walls, or kick off your gallery wall you know where to go.

Are you trying to shop local this year? I’d love to hear about your favourite small businesses!