WASHINGTON — With the holidays quickly approaching, we've made gift giving easy with this local business guide. Check out some of our recommendations!
Travel tumbler everyone thirsts for made by Seattle company
Stanley is based in Seattle, the company has been around since 1913. They make that classic green thermos that's been keeping hot things hot and cold things cold for decades.
But the company isn't afraid of innovation. New products this year include The DayBreak Collection, stainless steel mugs and saucers for enjoying anything from a latte to a cup of tea and the Lifted Spirits Collection, bar ware with a surprise prismatic design element inside the rocks glasses and cocktail shakers.
But there's one Stanley innovation that continues to be the the gift for anyone who's into what's trending and staying hydrated. It's so big on social media there was a waitlist to get one awhile back. Carrie Underwood has one that's bedazzled. It's a 40 ounce behemoth travel tumbler called the Quencher, and the Quencher H2.0 FlowState (tm) Tumbler is the next iteration of this It water-carrier that slides nicely into your car's cupholder.
"This is the updated version of our classic Quencher, the viral TikTok sensation Quencher 1," explained Stanley's Senior Manager of Industrial Design, Ryan Smith. "With this we focused on detail obsession," he said pointing out the soft matte finish that's both grippable and smooth to the touch, as well as the adjustable lid for leak resistance.
Tacoma artist's pottery just sells and sells and sells
In a Tacoma basement Sarah Downing Woodson turns lumps of clay into celebrations of hometowns.
"My motto is to celebrate home," she said. "A lot of the work that I do is about 'place'. I started really in the Pacific Northwest and then it's kind of grown out from there. So I've started with the places I know and love and have traveled to and lived in then it's grown out."
She has handmade mugs and utensil holders that celebrate everywhere from Tokyo to Tacoma, Buffalo to Boston, and Pittsburgh to Phoenix, nearly 200 city skylines in all.
"There is this never-ending well of people who are passionate about the place where they live," Woodson said.
She discovered her happy place, straddled around a pottery wheel, in 1999 when she took her first pottery class at South Seattle College.
Sample one of the world's rarest chocolates in new Issaquah testing kitchen
Fortunato #4 is made from cacao which was once thought to be extinct. But in 2007, while working with mining companies in Peru, Dan Pearson and his stepson Brian Horsley found something they could not recognize.
It turned out to be Pure Nacional, cacao declared extinct years earlier.
"We found a remnant population that has a high percentage of white porcelana beans that give it a special creamy nutty flavor," Horsley explained.
Anthony Bourdain featured this special tree in one of his shows and it's been called the Rolex of Chocolate by swiss pastry chef Roger von Rotz.
"For ten years, we only sold the chocolate to restaurants and chocolatiers in 30 countries, but when the pandemic hit, that part of our business melted away. Restaurants were shutting down. Chocolate shops shutting down. But we had to keep buying cocoa beans," Adam Pearson shared.
Salty Seattle makes incredible pasta art with all-natural ingredients
Linda Miller Nicholson isn't a professional artist or a trained chef, but thousands of people follow her "Salty Seattle" food journey online.
“I do crazy sh*t with food,” she said. “And right now I'm really focusing on doing crazy sh*t with pasta."
As "Salty Seattle," Nicholson takes an irreverent approach to cooking. Her specialty is using natural ingredients like vegetables and superfoods to give pasta dough vibrant colors.
She’s developed dozens of shades, using everything from beets to blueberries.
"With all of the colors, I have a painter's palette at my disposal and I might as well weave those colors together and do something really cool and unique and unusual with them,” she said.
New luxury wine brand launched by former Seattle Seahawk is toast of the town
A former Seahawk is bringing fans a new reason to cheer — or, more specifically, to say, "Cheers."
Sidney Rice launched new luxury wine brand Dossier with business partner Tim Lenihan.
Rice spent seven seasons as a wide receiver in the NFL, three of them with the Seattle Seahawks. He was a member of the 2014 Super Bowl Championship team.
After retiring from football, he went into business. During the pandemic, he discovered a new passion: wine.
"I fell in love with wine from a big, bold cab and now I'm all across the board," Rice said.
Got nostalgia? Retro Emporium in Kent has a cure
Calling all 1980s and 1990s fans! Retro Emporium in Kent wants to help you relive your childhood, one toy at a time.
In addition to toys, owner Anne Smith has collectibles, clothes, posters, candy, and anything else you can remember from the golden decades.
Don't be surprised though, if you see some early 2000s sprinkled in here and there.
"Obviously I'm all 80's and 90's, but finding out what the younger generation likes too," Smith said.
Smith got her start in collecting after she began selling retro items online. As the business grew online, so did her hesitation to expand.
"Who does a brick-and-mortar store in this day and age?"
It was finally another Kent business owner who encouraged Smith to go for it, and in 2019 the Retro Emporium became a staple in downtown Kent.
Meet the man who answers the most pressing question in all of Seattle: 'Is the mountain out?'
"It's just such a unique landmark," David Lindahl said. "I mean just the prominence ratio of Mount Rainier or Mount Tahoma, where it goes from zero to 14-thousand feet is pretty unique and the way it dominates the skyline across the area is so cool I can't really describe it."
Lindahl is the guy who runs the "Rainier Watch" Twitter account and he's every bit The Mountain fan you'd hope he'd be.
"Sometimes I scare my wife and shout with glee," he said. "But every time it still gets me with its stunning beauty."
Lindahl says he got the idea for the account, which he founded in 2013, on a metro bus ride.
"It was pretty random," he admitted. "I basically was commuting to downtown Seattle from the Green Lake area and those days when the mountain was out it was just the coolest thing ever. So I asked myself, 'Is there a way that people can know? There has to be a system out there, some notification kind of thing?' There wasn't, so I started a Twitter account and just started tweeting when the mountain was out and it has grown since then."
Seattle fashion designers work wonders with wardrobe staple
A Sarah Alexandra shirt can easily be described as polished without the fuss.
The brand is named for designer Sarah Alexandra McKinney, who operates a modern boutique in Seattle's Madison Valley neighborhood.
"The shirt really does look nice on so many different people on so many different body types of all ages," McKinney said.
The shirt's secret sauce starts with the material. McKinney procures the finest cotton and cashmere and is manufactured in Italy.
But what makes the shirt especially notable is the design. And for that, Sarah turned to a family recipe.
Seattle artist turns lampshades into functional pieces of art
An artist can use almost anything as their canvas. But what Jil Smith choose to display her art on has led her down an illuminating path.
"When you ask a child what they want to be when they grow up they never say lampshade maker," Jil laughed.
For nearly 30 years, Jil has been helping put rooms into a whole new light with her one-of-a-kind lampshades.
"It's like when you go to a dinner party and there's candlelight. These are the candles."
Besides homes, her work can also be seen in local venues and sold in places like the Seattle Art Museum.
Local brothers design the future of space travel
Wanna take a trip to Mars? These local brothers have just the ticket.
"It's about taking that stuff you love as a child and putting our own spin on it," Don said.
Don and Ryan Clark inhabit a world of whimsy. It's a world of their own making.
"He's kinda Batman and I'm Robin," Don said.
Ryan and Don played together for years in one of the country's top Christian metal bands, Demon Hunter. It's a group that Ryan still fronts.
But these days, from their storybook workshop here in Maple Valley, the Clarks are also tearing up the art world. Their design duo is known as Invisible Creature. It's music plus art for the brothers Clark.
Visit the mountain getaway near Leavenworth where profits fund arts, environment, and history
A picturesque mountain retreat near Leavenworth doesn’t just serve guests. It also supports the work of a non-profit.
Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort is home to 58 cabins, restaurants, and a day spa — and the profits from rooms, food, and services go back into the community.
Every penny that's not spent on upkeep or staff goes to Icicle Fund — a non-profit supporting the arts, environment, and history of North Central Washington.
The unique idea was created by philanthropist Harriet Bullitt.
"Harriet is the most visionary person I've ever met,” said Christine Morgan, Executive Director of Icicle Fund. "She wanted to connect people to the land so that in the future, they would protect it and take care of it."
Give the gift of great skin
It's skincare customized to zip code instead of skin type.
According to Ulli Haslacher, the founder and CEO of Pour Moi Skincare, where you live is the most important factor to consider when taking care of your skin.
"What you need in Seattle in that marine climate that you live in to have youthful, healthy looking skin is totally different than if you live in Las Vegas in a desert climate. And that is Climate-Smart,” said Haslacher, referring to her company’s patented system that pairs skincare product with users based on the climate their skin is in.
“This is based on huge medical research that says that your skin biochemically changes, it adjusts to the weather that you live in and so for skincare to really work its best it needs to be formulated to work in that particular climate that you live in,” she explained.
Climate matters so much that Haslacher recommends different products whether you live in western Washington or east of the Cascades. Pour Moi offers a range of day creams, night creams, serums, body lotions, masks and more specifically targeted to work well with different weather, temperatures, humidity and atmospheric conditions.
Get creative with your holiday gift!
The Works is a woman-owned and operated makers space in Seattle's Pioneer Square.
They specialize in DIY kits for cooking, crafting, gardening and more.
You can also take classes to learn how to make bitters, pie art, and holiday wreaths!
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