Looking for unique Christmas gifts? Let our Handcrafted Christmas Gift Guide make your holiday shopping a little less stressful. Discover contemporary craft from Scotland that will make the perfect gift for your loved ones and gives you the chance to support local businesses.
In case you missed it, catch up now with National Museum of Scotland Gift Collection and on our last post in this series all about the best Christmas Craft Markets.
We're very lucky in Scotland that we have a whole host of amazing local independent boutiques where you can shop a wide range of quality contemporary craft. Shopping local at Christmas time is great for the local economy, you can support Scottish makers and help build a thriving creative community. Saturday 3 December is actually Small Business Saturday so put that date in your diary and saunter down to one of these lovely boutiques to pick up unique handcrafted gifts.
Life Story
Looking for gifts for the Scandi minimalist in your life? Head to Life Story in Edinburgh, they stock both Nordic and homegrown brands. You will find stylish and creative homewares, furniture, jewellery, and accessories including geometric jewellery from Ruth Hollywood.
Ceárd
21 West Argyle Street, Ullapool, IV26 2TY
Showcasing the wealth of incredible talent in the Highlands, Ceárd focuses on locally made items, their delightful offering includes jewellery, ceramics, textiles, paintings and so much more. Full of character, do check out their warm, welcoming shop in the heart of the village of Ullapool.
If you need some added incentive to visit Ceárd, on Saturday 3rd December you can drop-in for their second Meet Your Maker event with textile artist Jan Kilpatrick. Come along and meet Jan, she will be working on her gorgeous wave fabric panels and demonstrating various sewing techniques.
Teasel & Tweed
85 Rosemount Viaduct, Aberdeen, AB25 1NS
Describing themselves as a cultural gift shop, Teasel & Tweed stock everything from home furnishings and furniture to accessories and gifts. They only stock Scottish-based designers including Darach Designs, Fernweh and Hume Sweet Hume Knitwear. On Sunday 18 December Teasel and Tweed are having their annual Chilled Christmas Shopping event, so head over for some mulled wine and mince pies.
Number Four Gallery
Number Four Gallery, Northfield farm St Abbs, Eyemouth, TD14 EQF
Step into the relaxed and airy Number Four Gallery and browse an ever-changing selection of quality work by both established and emerging contemporary artists/makers. You will discover a good range of glass, ceramics, wood and jewellery, and more - including pieces by ceramics by Myer Halliday and Thomas Hopkins-Gibson and jewellery by Susan Weir.
DCA Shop
152 Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4DY
DCA Shop has a fantastic selection of design, jewellery and craft sourced both locally and from across the UK. They bring together work by talented emerging and established independent makers alongside contemporary homeware design brands - like Niki McWilliams, Laura Spring and Natalie J Wood. You can also pick up a coffee table art book and shop limited edition prints by Scottish and international artists, produced in DCA Print Studio.
Tea Green Festive Concept Atelier
The Old Flour Mill, 20 Exchange Court, Dundee, DD1 3DE
Set against the historical backdrop of an old industrial mill, Tea Green present an exciting pop-up shop in the heart of Dundee. It will open on Saturday 26 November and run until Christmas Eve. You will find a stunning collection of work by over 40 local designers; including textiles, jewellery, ceramics, glass, and much more. Running alongside the pop-up shop will be a series of bookable creative workshops for you to take part in.
Welcome Home @ CCA
350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, G2 3JD
Welcome Home is run by designer Mhari McMullan and is now situated on the ground floor of the Centre for Contemporary Arts (CAA). Welcome Home is a vibrant creative retail space for craft, design and illustration. Focused on making design and craft accessible to all, it provides an evolving space for new and more established designers’ work. Definitely add it to your list if you are looking for great gifts that are handmade, well-designed, useful, beautiful or all of the above.
Make your Christmas shopping trip even more exciting by heading to Welcome Home on Saturday 19 November 2016, you can chat with Catherine Johnston from Object Company as part of our Meet Your Maker at Welcome Home. Catherine will show you the breadth of different activities involved in her practice: from collecting wood to carving and finishing. You can even learn all about tree species in Scotland.
The Barony Centre
The Barony Centre, 50 Main St, West Kilbride, KA23 9AR
The focal point of Craft Town Scotland, The Barony Centre is a beautifully designed destination for craft and design. Alongside the craft and cross art form exhibitions, you can shop a wide range of stunning craft pieces in their Gallery Shop. Discover work from glass artist Elin Isaksson, ceramicist Archie McCal and glass artist Amanda J Simmons amongst others.
Analogue Social Shop @ The Lighthouse
11 Mitchell Lane, Glasgow, G1 3NU
Did you know you can shop a quirky collection of independent designers right in the heart of Glasgow? Hidden down Mitchell Lane is Scotland's Centre for Design and Architecture, The Lighthouse and on the ground floor, you can find Analogue. This contemporary shop is managed by Analogue Social, an open community of designers in Scotland, their selection includes makers such as lighting designer Kate Colin, textiles brand Green Thomas and designer/maker Dana Finnigan.
Nancy Smillie
53 Cresswell Street, Glasgow, G12 8AE
In the West End of Glasgow, you can find a stylish collection of furniture and craft pieces at Nancy Smillie. Head over for handcrafted fine jewellery from their own studio.
Concrete Wardrobe
50A Broughton Street, Edinburgh, EH1 3SA
A firm favourite in the capital, Concrete Wardrobe is the place to find Scottish design-led craft. Established in 2000 by printed textiles designer Fiona McIntosh and weaver James Donald, Concrete Wardrobe stocks a wide range of makers including Harris Tweed bags from Catherine Aitken, jewellery from Syrah Jay and knitwear designer Frances Tekkam.
