I wanted to create this Melbourne Christmas Gift Guide because as a Melbourne resident, I am pretty excited about the easing out of our extended and incredibly tough lockdown. I know that for many businesses, lockdown would have been a much tougher time for them than it was for me.
I put a call out via my newsletter for Melbourne business who would like to be added to the gift guide or for readers who would like to nominate a Melbourne business they would like to have added. The result is this fabulous list!
A Melbourne Christmas Gift Guide
Chocolate celebration hamper gifts – something delicious and super special for the chocoholic in your life! This celebration hamper is from Cacao who create beautiful handcrafted chocolates, macarons and pastries. They source natural ingredients of the highest quality, locally and abroad, that offer the very best in flavour – for example the honey they use in their honeycomb and macarons is from Backyard Honey in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Backyard Honey beekeepers hand-harvest honey from hives tended in Melbourne and rural Victorian locations. Each honey harvest is full of the natural nutritional goodness of local nectars and pollens. It’s 100% pure, raw and unheated.
Cacao is co-owned by Laurent Meric, a French born and trained Master Chocolatier and Pastry Chef and is also a member of the Academie Culinaire de France and Tim Clark who is an acclaimed Pastry Chef and Chocolatier.
Workshop at home 1 Hammered Copper Earrings – Sarah Munnings empowers others to discover their creativity through face to face workshops and workshops in a box at home. Using traditional techniques and easily accessible tools she teaches silversmithing across Victoria. Melbourne based, she creates her designs from home, weaving love and a little soul into everything she makes. This would make a wonderful gift for the creative soul in your life. But if you wanted to just buy some earrings as a gift you can check out Sarah’s collection here.
Christmas pom poms – P&P POMPOM have a delightful range of Christmas Pompom Decorations and Garlands for your homes and trees that are made by artisans in Melbourne. There are lots of colours and styles to choose from. They are perfect for Christmas gifts and decorations!
Cotton scarf – you can purchase this gorgeous scarf from Artocracy. Artocracy is a shared retail space where everything in store is made in Melbourne. By sharing the costs and operation of the shop, artists and makers are able to showcase their work, while still retaining the freedom to continue to create those magical products that you can’t find anywhere else. Each time you visit you will meet at least one of the makers and you’ll have the opportunity to learn about the products from the makers themselves. Thanks to lockdown they now have an online shop too where you can purchase wonderful gifts, have them delivered or organise a time to pick them up from the store.
Activated bath crystals – you can find these bath crystals at Hummingbird Living. Hummingbird Living is a Melbourne based online store offering lifestyle products to support your mind and body and to create home as a haven. They have brought together products that will encourage people to take a moment of self care and to help to create daily rituals that support wellbeing. They also stock the wonderful 5 Minute Journals for adults and the child version as well – this would make a brilliant Christmas gift too!
ARC Vessel – handmade in Melbourne by Cate, the ceramicist behind “Milk Workshop” this vase is perfect for holding small flower buds or dried foliage. It’s also cute enough to sit proudly on your shelf or group it with other vases to create a clustered display.
It has been hand-formed using speckled grey mid-fire clay and features a fine rib texture on the exterior which has been left unglazed to highlight the texture of the clay. The interior has been clear glazed to ensure that it’s watertight. This is a unique hand made piece, therefore there will be subtle variations in appearance, reflective of the hand made process.
Beautiful macrame mobile – also handmade in Melbourne this super cute macrame baby mobile hanger is the perfect gift for the very littlest ones in your life. The mobiles are made with luxe macrame cotton and colours can be customised to suit any colour theme. You can find the maker on Instagram as Decor By Baxter and see all the other wonderful macrame creations she has that would be perfect for Christmas gifts.
Boho picnic pallet – this gift idea from Melbourne Glamping is an experience gift that you might like to do with a group of friends instead of buying individual gifts. The boho pallet picnic includes rugs, cushions, glasses, plates and napkins (no food but they can set you up with one of their awesome suppliers to assist with catering). Check out the Melbourne Glamping website for a range of other options including a family glamp out in your own backyard, teens parties or even a couples night!
Rosie Bloomware set – Blooware is founded by Steph, a first-time mum living in Victoria’s Yarra Valley with her fiance Pete and her daughter Noa. Steph is a Paediatric Nurse currently on maternity leave and like all of us has been riding the wave that is this global pandemic. The idea of Bloomware came about when she began her feeding journey with her daughter in early 2020 and wanted eco-conscious, children’s dinnerware that didn’t sacrifice on style. Not finding what she wanted, she set about making it herself!
Bloomware is made from a bamboo bi-product which means when other bamboo products are produced, what’s leftover is used to make the beautiful bowls, plates, spoons and cups – hooray for no waste and no nasties like phthalates and BPA coming anywhere near your babies!
Dare Designer Roll-on Perfume Oil – Coconut Home & Co. is a gorgeous boutique in Camberwell East, showcasing a range of classic homewares, jewellery, gifts, fashion & accessories. Like most stores during COVID-19 Coconut Home & Co now has an online presence where you can purchase their goods, like this unique Dare Designer Roll-on Perfume Oil.
The Perfume Oil Company are based in Melbourne and have a beautiful range of sheer and lasting scents. They are all natural using pure, fine oils in an organic carrier, with no drying alcohol or chemical fillers. The Dare scent is a delicate, romantic and fresh fragrance, inspired by Chance Tendre – CC. You can see the other scents they have in store here.
Knotty Turkish Beach Towels – Knotty launched with a splash in 2011 when two Melbourne mums, Annika and Caren, struck up a friendship poolside. As mother’s of squad swimmers, towels were always an essential item in their households and once they discovered the many benefits of Turkish Towels, Knotty was born. From humble beginnings, the label is now regarded as the premium turkish towel brand.
If you aren’t familiar with Turkish towels they are light weight, super absorbent and quick drying, made from 100% cotton This makes them perfect for the beach, pool or travel. They are soft enough to wear as a sarong to the beach and light weight enough to carry one each for the whole family on those lazy beach days.
Observe Gallery – was founded in 2020 by Melbourne based siblings Massimo and Alessia Acquaro. The brand was born from a desire to create pieces with a modern design aesthetic that are ready to wear as simplistic statement pieces. The name ‘Observe’ represents a desire to appreciate the simple and meaningful elements of our complicated world, whilst ‘Gallery’ symbolises the way in which we want to showcase each of our pieces individually. If you have teenagers to buy for, definitely check out Observe Gallery.
Round And Round Records – has been active as a physical store since 2008. While they do have an online store there is nothing quite like flicking through the records in their Brunswick store. And as the store is a mix of new and secondhand vinyl, you will find something for everyone like the above classic Technique from New Order.
Organic Crew – Organic Crew garments are made using 100% organic cotton in Melbourne, Australia and Kolkata, India. As a Melbourne based brand, they value local production where this is efficient and of high quality, as it enables them to oversee every development stage and ensure it meets their expectations and ethical standards. Where they see a higher standard of quality and expertise, they look to other global locations with the essential certifications – organic, ethical and fair trade. I love the tank pictured above!
Custom hand-lettered foil prints – Liz Tu is the talented calligrapher behind Melbourne based Letter Me! and can create a beautiful Christmas gift for you to give to someone special based off their favourite poems, quotes, messages or lyrics. It makes such a beautiful and personal gift.