The Best Gifts Don’t Need Two-Day Shipping

The Brandywine Valley has countless charming shops and boutiques to tempt holiday shoppers. There are chic home goods stores, farmstands with award-winning wares, and boutiques filled with the latest fashions. Plus, there are well-known fan favorites and hidden gems dotting our area.

While each is a destination in its own right, what if you could pick a bobble from here, a jam from there, a candle from down the way, to create the ultimate gift basket? Well, we did that for you!

Here are themed gift baskets designed to inspire thinking outside the internet, with a head start on holiday shopping. You’re welcome.

Cozy Up Basket

With temperatures starting to cool, this basket is just what you need to get your cozy on.

Start with a selection of teas from Mrs. Robinson’s Tea Shop, a mad little tea shop in Kennett Square. You can’t go wrong with Over the Moon, their green/black tea blend, flavored with strawberries, or their namesake breakfast tea. And when the garlands go up and lights start twinkling, you’ll want to turn to a seasonal blend like Gingersnap, featuring gingersnap rooibos with a special fruit mélange.

The Danes call it hygge, but nothing readies you to settle in for a cozy winter’s night quite like the flickering glow of a candle. Natural air purifiers, beeswax candles are the perfect way to add a soft glow when windows are shut tight. This basket is stocked with geometric tulip candle from Jardine Apiaries, available at Kimberton Whole Foods in Downingtown and other locations. Add in a couple of New- Bee Ranch’s All Beeswax Evergreen Tree Candles, snatched while visiting the West Chester Growers Market.

In this basket, you’ll also find pampering shea butter soaps from Wilmington’s Buff City Soap. All handmade with plant-based ingredients, these soaps help you vanquish winter’s dry air and dark mornings. We suggest a bar of the bestselling Narcissist Shea Butter Soap and the warm, yellow, ultra-moisturizing vibes of the Good Morning Sunshine bar.

Pampered and relaxed, curl up by the fire with a gorgeous Tartan Blanket Co. recycled wool throw from Terrain in Glen Mills and Devon. Made using recycled wool fibers and featuring a vibrant rust and blue tartan print, it’s perfect paired with a cup of tea and a great American novel.

For your next winter read, there are so many choices. Bookmarks in West Chester, Bookish Notions in Media, Main Point Books in Wayne, Reads & Co. in Phoenixville and Wellington Square Bookshop in Exton. Just make sure to visit an independent book shop where you can get personal assistance!

Best of the Best Local Food Basket

When the snow starts to fall and the winds blow, it’s best to stay inside. Rejoice in your decision with this custom food basket stocked with only the best.

The Brandywine Valley is home to several exceptional cheese producers, including Honey Brook’s critically acclaimed September Farm. For this basket, include a block of their award-winning Three-Year Cheddar, named best cheese in Pennsylvania by Cooking Light, and a wedge of their popular smoked farmhouse gouda, the perfect accompaniment to the day-after- Thanksgiving roast turkey hoagie.

Another option for enjoying your local cheese is to stack it on a thick slice of Saint Peter’s Bakery’s rosemary and sea salt baguette. This Elverson bakery has earned a reputation for its amazing artisan breads, handmade in the same location and same manner for over a century.

Also tucked into this collection of foodie treats is a jar or two of Spotted Horse Provisions jams. A regular at the Berwyn Farmers’ Market, Spotted Horse Provisions focuses on creating healthy, delicious foods that bridge cultures. Dig down to find a jar of blue-ribbon blueberry lavender jam and boozy blackberry jam to warm you up on a cold winter’s eve.

A Brandywine Valley foodie adventure would not be complete without some mushrooms from the Mushroom Capital of the World. Located in the heart of mushroom country, The Woodlands at Phillips Farm is an excellent place to score a variety of farm-fresh fungi. This basket includes a pound of the versatile Phillips royal trumpets and a pound of wood ear mushrooms, grown next door at Phillips Farm, a fourth-generation Kennett Square family mushroom farm.

FYI, we’re skipping the basket for this collection of goodies and stuffing our picks into a Talula’s Canvas and Cork Grocery Tote. Everything this gourmet cafe does is wonderful, and that includes its ecofriendly canvas totes. Wow the recipient by tucking inside a gift card to Kennett Square’s Talula’s Table, the ultimate celebration of the best of farm-to-table.

Indulge Yourself Basket

After the shopping is done and the bows and ribbons put away, why not allow yourself a little time to enjoy life’s pleasures? This basket of locally stocked indulgences is here to get you started.

Indulge your skin with protective Quinta Esencia oils from Adorn Goods in Centreville. The ultra-moisturizing FACE oil is made primarily of Chilean rosehip seed oil, a natural antioxidant, and rich in phytosterols, fatty acids and vitamin C. There’s also a little argan oil, moringa oil and sea buckthorn to help promote cell regeneration. A drop here, a drop there and your skin will glow all winter long.

Wiping crumbs from the corners of your mouth has never been so elegant. Stonewashed linen napkins from Life’s Patina in Chester Springs take dining sophistication to a new level. The soft ivory fabric will add a nod of fresh fallen snow to your tablescape. But don’t worry, these versatile napkins will see use all year long.

Saving can be boring, but gorgeous beaded credit card holders from Shoppe Marché in Kennett make it easier to keep those cards tucked away. Shimmery pouches come in an assortment of colors, including canary yellow, ruby red and rainbow.

For a sweet treat, Éclat Chocolate’s cube collection includes six perfectly square masterpieces from the West Chester-based chocolatier. Inspired by the Bauhaus aesthetic, the historic German art school credited with revolutionizing modern design, these geometric chocolate casings each feature unique layered flavors like chocolate-bourbon-pecan and coffee-vanilla.

Finally, indulge your whole self with a Drift Spa gift card. Recently named Best Spa by Philadelphia Magazine, this Lancaster day spa is the perfect place to duck away from slush-covered sidewalks, incomplete shopping lists and unanswered emails. Start with a Mineral Mood Reset, followed by the Drift Away Signature Massage, and the promise that by the end, the day’s stresses will almost certainly have drifted away.

Nature Lovers Basket

To have a favorite season, you must experience them all. This basket of treats is designed to help you make the most of nature’s diverse tapestry.

To get started, add a Natural Lands membership to support a conservation organization with 40 nature preserves and one public garden, Stoneleigh in Villanova. Admission to the preserves is free to all, but membership gets you access to special events, garden center discounts and a subscription to Natural Lands’ magazine. It also helps support the work of this important organization in keeping our area green.

To keep you going, include a pair of Brooks W Cascadia 18 series trail runners from the Bryn Mawr Running Company in Bryn Mawr, Media, West Chester and Wilmington. Lightweight and versatile, this popular shoe has garnered fans among amateur hikers and serious trail runners alike. Plus, the black and purple colorway provides the perfect cover for winter’s muddy trails and slush-filled sidewalks.

More of an observer than a hiker? Randall Graham’s six-week plein air class teaches you the pleasure of painting outdoors with birdsong in your ears and sunshine on your skin, not in your eye. Learn proper setup, how to avoid nature’s pitfalls and the compositional considerations required of painting outdoors. In this basket, you’ll find a gift certificate to the class, which starts in late May.

Did you know Pennsylvania is home to over 400 species of birds? Most leave for warmer climates during fall and winter, but varieties like northern cardinals, blue jays and American goldfinches stick it out locally. Who says you can’t appreciate nature from the warmth of your home? Find a Perky-Pet Wild Bird Feeder and 20 pounds of Ace Premium Wild Bird Feed, both from Brandywine Ace, Pet & Farm.

Finally, to round out this basket, select an “Old Man” cactus in a housemade pot from The Green House in West Chester. It will make you smile and remind you warmer days are on the way.