Sustainable Gifting

I love finding small thoughtful gifts for friends and family year round, so choosing stocking stuffers is definitely one of my favorite holiday rituals! And choosing sustainable stocking stuffers makes the process even more special. Much of my sustainability journey has been finding alternatives for personal items (beauty products, clothing, etc), but it’s also been about shopping sustainably for loved ones. You’ve probably heard that when you shop small, a small business owner does a little happy dance (it’s true!!). But that joyful feeling goes both ways. Shopping small during gifting season makes the experience so much less stressful and more enjoyable for everyone involved.

Here are some eco-friendly stocking stuffer ideas for everyone on your list (including a few from our own shop)!

where to buy sustainable stocking stuffers

column 1: tiered pom pom tassel by member tribe / lip-to-lid zero waste balmies by member axiology / lavender oversized silk scrunchie by charlie paisley / double dipped pink & lavender mug by sunflower studio pdx / sprinkles reusable dishcloths by hali hali design / high rise briefs in limited edition colors from member knickey (see our full review here)

column 2: mini rainbow notebook by moglea / moisturizing botanical bar by nopalera / bamboo charcoal makeup remover pads by clean circle / pastel pinwheel coaster set by eco club member KAZI / dark chocolate gift set by jcoco chocolate

column 3: clean lilac nail polish by BKIND / desert agave candle by TERRA (with plantable dust cover!) / duo-tone satin bow by member ks garner / seed salutations by modern sprout / heaven place mini puzzle from puzzle weekend / handmade natural scrunchies by member terrai

 

PS Wondering how to become a member of our sustainable directory? Membership is currently free to join, and this is a free resource we provide to our community of conscious consumers. We’re not paid to place these products in our gift guides, we only do because we love them (and the rest of the brands featured)! We review submissions every week and choose the brands that align with our ethical + sustainable shopping values and contain products we know our readers will love. Open to brands around the world, as long as they ship to USA. Click here to submit your brand!

I love stationery no matter the occasion and often send cards to friends throughout the year, but there’s something special about sending a note during the holidays! And I’m definitely not one to buy a boxed set of 200 cards and send the same thing out to everyone I know (as if I know 200 people, haha). I love picking out a specific card for each person on my list… I’d say it’s because my first job was Hallmark, but the obsession began long before age 16. Anyway, to me, greeting cards can be an affordable way to support small design houses and independent artists and gift something that is just as display-worthy as art, but more accessible. Here are all the best sustainable holiday cards I’ve seen so far this year, by so many artists I admire.

17 sustainable holiday cards from our favorite artists

left to right, top to bottom: sister paper co merry and bright candles card / carolyn suzuki goods winter crew greeting card / modern peace & love holiday card / sending all the love christmas card / cozy + bright card from people i’ve loved / dear santa fundamental rights card / cozy holiday plantable card by plantedroot / blush season’s greetings card / naomi wilkinson merry christmas / klingercreative mushroom new years card / sister paper co driving home christmas card / merry christmas table setting card / holiday plant shelf card / carolyn suzuki goods season’s greetings card / plantedroot plantable cozy fireplace card / moglea holiday confetti / meowy christmas card by missive

Whether it’s mailing holiday cards or topping gifts with them, this is my favorite easy way to spread holiday cheer. If I’m giving it with a gift, I’ll often ditch the envelope (and save it to use later when I need one) or simply not write on it so that the recipient can reuse it. (Just another strange quirk my friends have come to expect from me, which complements my obsession with saving and reusing tissue paper.) Let us know which designs are your faves, and be sure to follow the artists you discover and love!

Hello friends! We have a big announcement for you today! Introducing our very own shop, from the founders and editors of eco club and our design studio, wallflower. We launched this fall and have been since been hard at work on our holiday collection, so I haven’t gotten around to making the *official* introduction here on the blog. So, it’s long overdue, but today we’re sharing photos from our first shoot, featuring so many of our favorite products. I’ll explain a bit more about this new endeavor and the products we’re sharing below!

Blockprint napkins

wallflower is a shop, blog, and creative studio celebrating makers + spaces + objects that inspire. Jenn and I met almost ten years ago as lifestyle bloggers with a love of crafting and collaborating with other makers. Fun fact, we both independently sold vintage finds and crochet accessories on Etsy back in college, before we knew each other. Eventually, we both became freelancers in our own fields and started collaborating on a project called The Blog Market. Later, we moved on to work together on eco club (and a bunch of other projects). We launched our studio in 2019, offering creative services for thoughtful brands and people, and finally, incorporated our ecommerce brand in fall 2022. Phew!

Porcelain plates

Pastel coasters (a personal fave!!)

Espresso cup and saucer set and cat charcuterie board

We think of wallflower as the ultimate moodboard for us — and for you! As longtime bloggers and Pinterest-obsessed curators, we believe in surrounding ourselves with beauty and creativity. Of course, we also believe in caring for people and the planet, and in the power of small business and handmade, so our shop is really a celebration of artists around the world and the creativity we all have within.

Art prints from artists around the world

Striped table runner

Pink taper candle holders

For our launch shoot, we collaborated, of course, with Charity, who helped us show off some of our favorite pieces in a small space setting.

Woven colorblock coasters

Pastel woven vessel, another favorite of mine

Design books

Woven planter basket

We collaborated with a lot of different makers to bring wallflower together. As we grow, we plan to share lots more about these designers and why we love them (and why you should too). But for now, you might recognize Kazi, a fair trade home decor brand we’ve talked about here on eco lots of times. We selected some of their most vibrant pieces for our first collection.

Blush plate

Linen scallop napkins

We also worked with a small business in India to make custom sets of the napkins shown throughout, which features a cotton block print technique and these solid linen scalloped napkins. It was soooo fun to curate custom sets! They’re all handmade and the detail is incredible.

Floral ceramic cat ring dish and striped ceramic cat ring dish with yellow and lavender earrings

This collection of ceramic cats, which features ring dishes, earrings, and pins, is a collaboration between us and Romanian ceramicist and illustrator Livia Coloji of Gruni Ceramica. You can’t find these anywhere else, they are based on Livia’s original designs and updated with wallflower’s branding (and love of florals) in mind. I think this was my favorite product to receive in the mail and finally see in-person after all our communication online. They’re just so beautiful and will make such special gifts.

Acetate hair accessories

A few greeting cards from our massive stationery collection

We also have a lifestyle collection and a self care line. We currently offer over 200 products by about 40 vendors from the US and all around the world. And we have so much more we want to share! But I’ll leave it at this intro for now, and follow up with more of our favorites soon. If you’re interested, please head to shop.studio-wallflower.com to see all of the above and more! Thanks for checking out our small shop and following along!