A good handmade gift starts with the everyday life of the person you’re giving it to, not with the shelf. Below we’ve gathered a few tricks for choosing one, and twelve ideas from our shop in Gdańsk: from scents and things to touch, through souvenirs of Gdańsk without fridge magnets, to small things for a Christmas stocking. Every one of them has a real maker behind it.
How to choose a handmade gift: eight tricks
For twelve days before the shop’s opening we shared gift ideas from our shelves on Instagram. Along the way a few rules came together that work whatever happens to be in the shop at the moment.
- Start with their day, not with the shelf. Does someone drink their morning coffee from a favourite mug, paint outdoors, play RPGs or sit eight hours in an open-plan office? A gift that fits into an ordinary day gets used, not put away.
- Think in senses. Smell, touch, taste, sight. When you don’t know what to give someone, it’s easier to pick a sense than an object. The first four ideas below are arranged exactly like that.
- Add the maker’s story. Behind everything at Locus Artis there’s a real person and a real workshop. Two sentences on a gift tag about who made it and how turn “a nice mug” into a gift with a story. You’ll find the makers’ stories on their pages under Makers.
- Handmade comes in small batches. Two mugs from the same batch are never identical, and many things we have as one-offs. If you like something, don’t leave the decision for the last week before Christmas.
- A small budget is enough. Small things start at about 20 zł: bean-to-bar chocolate dragées, a window sticker that throws a rainbow, a keyring. You’ll find ideas under “For the last minute”.
- Not sure? Let them choose. A gift card works like a ticket to the shop: we write in a name and an amount, and the person you give it to picks from the shelves themselves.
- A souvenir of Gdańsk doesn’t have to be a magnet. Tenement houses carved in clay, Gdańsk doorways in paintings, amber found on the beach: all of it was made here, by local makers.
- Wrap it so the box stays. We wrap gifts in nice boxes with no logo on them, chosen so they can be used again after unwrapping. And if you find Ania from karpiania behind the till, ask her nicely for a gift tag: there’s a chance it’ll come from her calligraphy nib.
12 ideas from our shelves
Our stock changes, because handmade things come in small batches. Treat these ideas as directions, not a shopping list: the exact pieces on the shelf may be different, but the makers and their character stay.
1. For the nose
Scent is the simplest way to make a gift part of every day. Dragonfly Design makes candles and wax melts with forest scents based on essential oils; the wax fits /dev/random creations’ carved burners, through which the flame draws a pattern on the wall. Lilium Valley names its candles like stories, for example “Ciasto babci Zosi” (Grandma Zosia’s cake), and Emilia of Home Harmony blends the scents for her candles and diffusers herself.
Perfume isn’t only for the brave. Flagolie from Kraków has dozens of unisex scents with us, also as decants to try, and Bydgoska Wytwórnia Mydła makes unisex solid perfumes in wax. Some of the blends are unexpected combinations, others remind you of familiar places, like sea waves and old wood, and are a safe choice for anyone.
2. For the hands
Things you can’t help touching. A merino scarf that Kuba of Krośko Ten Tkacz weaves thread by thread, chunky wool hats from G.M. Handmade, and Olga’s blankets from Kashubia, hand-looped from plush, anti-allergic yarn. The smallest touch in the set is a ring by Spleciona, made from leather or reclaimed fabric.
3. For the eye
For someone who notices light. Carved porcelain lamps and lanterns by /dev/random creations glow through their pattern, and window stickers by Dźwiedźma make a rainbow in the room when the sun shines. Add a snail in a mirror glaze by Andrzej Chilmon and Hanna’s vivid paintings from StindyArt.
4. For the palate
Bean-to-bar chocolate from the Beskid Chocolate manufactory, which sorts and roasts its own cocoa, Japanese matcha from Yokiro, a family brand from Podlasie, and coffee from two local roasteries, Nie Czapla and Kawana. Matcha goes with a chawan by Ganna Pottery, tea with a Trzy Wiatry set.
5. A souvenir of Gdańsk
For guests from afar and for those who send Gdańsk out into the world. A small plate with tenement houses carved in clay by Wenska lepi z gliny, Lepiej Ceramika’s mugs with the city skyline, Hanna’s Gdańsk doorways from StindyArt and a seagull necklace by filozofijatoja. The amber in chicaArt’s jewellery is amber she found on a beach herself: not in Gdańsk, but close by. We don’t sell Gdańsk fridge magnets, with one exception: Stożynek, our shop mascot straight from the kiln.
6. For dog people and cat people
Mugs with a samoyed, a corgi and a grumpy cat, thrown and hand-painted by Maria of Purka Ceramics. In Łapp to! Ceramika’s mugs a little figure sits at the bottom, a dachshund for example. Ania of karpiania paints cats on porcelain, tender, sleepy and furious, and a cat-shaped lamp comes from Fairy Pottery.
7. For the corporate crowd
For Mondays and meetings that could have been an email. Wenska lepi z gliny’s mugs with sarcastic slogans, from “Robię, co mogę” (I’m doing what I can) to blunter ones, a karpiania bowl with the whole open-office vocabulary, and a buckwheat pouch from Home Harmony for your neck after a day at the screen. Dźwiedźma’s undated planner starts on any Monday.
8. For the artist
For someone who already has every brush. The plein-air sketchbook that Michalina of Dźwiedźma designed and patented herself is carried like a handbag. SROKA’s fingerless mitts keep your hands warm and leave your fingers free for a precise line. Add gothic calligraphy by Michał of Inkvictus Calligraphy and postcards with reproductions of StindyArt’s paintings.
9. For the party
For an RPG session: a one-litre tankard with a wood texture and a cauldron mug on legs from Druid Ceramics, an octopus bowl from Fairy Pottery and a notebook with a golden dragon from Dźwiedźma, bound with a 17th-century method. Sztuka z Rąk makes notebooks with handmade dragons on the covers, Vide a dice tower shaped like a ruined tower, and on the wall a wolf linocut by Chmural fits right in.
10. For those who don’t like throwing things away
Spleciona’s rings from fabric and leather offcuts, bowls from reclaimed clay by /dev/random creations, Lilium Valley’s candles in easy-to-recycle glass, and MbUpStudio’s pouches sewn from reclaimed fabrics.
11. For a brand-new mum
Something soft for the little one and something just for her. Olga’s blanket from anti-allergic yarn, a bust and décolleté oil from Home Harmony, the “Ciężarna” (Pregnant) poster by karpiania and a mug by Piwoniart that celebrates the female body. Add crochet charms by IvanovaDolls, Naad’s warm slippers and Silky Love Kasia’s silk scrunchies.
12. For the last minute
When you need a gift for tomorrow, small things under 100 zł do the job: Naad’s wool socks, fly-agaric keyrings from Sztuka z Rąk, Beskid Chocolate’s dragées, merd_stuff’s glass ear cuffs, stone rings by trocka_handmade and window stickers by Dźwiedźma. And if you don’t know what to choose, a gift card leaves the decision to the person you’re giving it to.
Shopping at Locus Artis in short
Where is the shop? At Długie Ogrody 6A in Gdańsk. You’ll find the current opening hours on the Visit page.
Do you have gift cards? Yes. A gift card works for everything in the shop. You can buy one in the shop or online on our website.
Is everything handmade? Most things are handmade by makers we work with directly. Next to them are small craft brands, like bean-to-bar chocolate, matcha or coffee from local roasteries, whose production isn’t fully by hand but still happens on a small scale.
Can I order something that isn’t on the shelf? If something has sold out, it probably won’t come back in an identical form, because handmade things rarely repeat. We look at such cases one by one, and some makers take orders. Send us an email or a message on Instagram, or ask in the shop.
Do you ship? We don’t offer regular shipping for now, but if you like something, write to us. In most cases we can arrange it.
If you don’t know where to start, come in and tell us about the person you want to give a gift to. We’ll start with their ordinary day, and the rest will be on the shelves.
the Locus Artis team