Last-Minute Holiday Wrap-Up

Christmas is only a few days away! The stress of the holidays can be a lot of pressure, but stopping by your local small business in these last couple days and showing some love can really raise your spirits. Here are a handful of our top picks for places you can visit in these next few days:

• Cottage and Bloom: They will be open 11-4 Thursday and Friday in the Emmaus triangle, for you to stop by and browse around or pick up any last-minute gifts. Cottage and Bloom focuses on rustic, industrial, modern farmhouse home decor you can explore to add a little warmth to your home. They find and repurpose their products, making your shopping experience unique to their store!
• Apport Used Books: They will be open 12-6 Wednesday, 10-6 Thursday and 10-3 Friday this week in the Emmaus triangle. When shopping for someone who loves to read, there is nothing more thoughtful (and sustainable) than taking the time to browse a used bookstore and find the perfect book for that individual. Used books have character and warmth, as they have been read through before. On top of that, used books are very economically-friendly!
• FD Market: We will be open 10-5 Wednesday and 10-8 Thursday this week, and you are welcome to swing by and ask us about our gift-wrapping options as well as our recommendations for stocking stuffers!

Many of the small businesses we would be happy to recommend will likely not be able to fulfill your order by this weekend, but we carry many of them in-store. For example:

• Joint Goods: We carry Joint Goods’ hand-crafted candles–they are so pretty and smell amazing.
• Lather & Peace Apothecary: We sell Lather & Peace Apothecary’s naturally-made body scrubs, which come in different scents that smell and work like a spa-grade product. For the holidays, check out the Peppermint Body Scrub!
• Earthy Edith’s: We have Earth Edith’s cleaning sprays, powders, and concentrates–they are made from natural ingredients, smell great, and get the job done.

Stop by the store this week (10-5 on Wednesday and 10-8 on Thursday) to check out our many refill and shelved gifts you can stuff stockings with. Winners from the store are always candles (Home & Living), Elate Cosmetics makeup and UpCircle face care (Beauty & Skin Care), and Stasher Bags and Food Huggers (Kitchen & Cleaning.) Plus, so much more! 

Also, if you place an order before 10am on Thursday, your purchase is $25 or more, and you are located within 20 miles of the shop, we offer free delivery! We can get the order right to your door by Christmas Eve Eve!

For last minute wrapping, we have a couple options for you:

• Cotton Ribbons: These ribbons are made from cotton and are reusable, so you do not need to throw them away after gifts are unwrapped.
• Eco-Friendly Wrapping Paper: We have an array of cute prints and styles for you to choose from. The product itself is made from 100% compostable and recyclable newspaper, and the dyes are plant-based inks.
• Furoshiki: This traditional Japanese wrapping cloth is made from fabric that can be endlessly reused. It looks so cute and can wrap anything!

Post-holidays, make sure to think sustainably!

• Compost left-over food scraps, and wrapping paper if you know it is compostable (like our eco-friendly wrapping paper.)
• Recycle wrapping paper (if it can be recycled.) If your wrapping paper is made with foil or anything glittery, it will likely not recycle and needs to be disposed of in the regular waste. But, as long as your wrapping paper is a simple paper wrap, just make sure it does not have any tape or stickers still on it, and it should be recyclable.
• Compost your Christmas trees! As mentioned in the previous post, real trees are more sustainable than fake trees because after use, they can be used again (for example, shredded into woodships.) Check with your local borough and see if they will pick up your tree after the holidays and deliver it to a compost site where it can be repurposed. 

There are so many ways you can integrate sustainability into your holiday and we recommend you do anything you can to help the earth (because she deserves a happy holiday too!)

Thank you for taking steps towards a greener future!