Our 2021 Cornish gift guide: 25 small businesses to support this Christmas

Unique gifts from local makers

With only five weeks to go until the big day, we’ve rounded up our favourite fellow Cornish businesses to buy from this festive season. Each one deeply rooted here in Cornwall, your friends and family will be cozied up under sustainably sourced blankets and tucking into local cheeseboards while candles flicker and Christmas lights twinkle. Support some incredible independents and read on for our top 25.
 

Home and lifestyle gifts

1.    St Eval Candles

With a North Cornwall farm to call home, St Eval are loved locally for producing sweet-smelling candles, hand washes and reed diffusers. Their gift-ready Christmas tin candles and tealights come in a range of scents, including orange and cinnamon and winter thyme. 

For something more versatile throughout the year, opt for a cucumber and black pepper secret garden pot, or try the lavender and sage hand lotion. Always inspired by nature and the surrounding Cornish landscape, something from St Eval makes the perfect ‘thank you’ gift for hardworking teachers or friends in need of a festive treat. 

© St Eval Candles

2.   Atlantic Blankets

Inspired by the wild Atlantic Ocean, this Perranporth-based brand live, think and breathe Cornwall. Each beautiful blanket is inspired by Kernow’s rugged coastline, combining muted pastel colours and geometric designs. 

Their ‘hug in a box’ gift set is sure to warm the hearts of loved ones this Christmas, complete with a recycled wool blanket, a St Eval candle and a bar of chocolate, Cornish of course. Founders Alistair and Gemma are passionate about making environmentally friendly choices wherever they can, and their packaging has been plastic-free since 2018. 

3.   Badger and Birch

Put a handmade stamp on this year’s Christmas gifts and buy from Badger and Birch. From her garden studio in the heart of Falmouth, owner and founder Hazel has a clear goal for every one of her products – to avoid waste wherever she can. 

Focussing on beautiful home and lifestyle items, our favourites from the Christmas collection include personalised hanging tree decorations and this beautiful oyster shell candle gift set. One-of-a-kind gifts, crafted in Cornwall, using natural materials and delivered in plastic-free packaging – what’s not to love?

© Badger and Birch

4. Otti Home

If it’s an effortless, curated aesthetic you love, look no further than Otti Home. Falmouth-based founder Fliss Lincoln is passionate about championing talented ceramicists, wax ateliers, potters and loom artists from across the country. From textured hand woven cushions to original artwork, everything is made to last and stand the test of time. 

Sticking to an earthy, neutral colour palette, these products are perfect for homeware enthusiasts who aren’t so keen on the traditional green, red and gold.  We have our eye on the Mancora pasta dish and Fenna bottle vase. 

5.   Port Isaac Trading Co

Weaving through the drunken fisherman’s cottages of Port Isaac that line the way to the sea, you’ll soon stumble upon this unassuming treasure trove. Offering everything from sweatshirts and tote bags to enamel mugs and natural soaps, their lovely lifestyle products and nautical branding will bring a smile to any Cornwall-lover’s face. For those further afield, check out Pit Co’s online shop.

6.   Spilled Ink Stationery

A new venture established in 2020, this brand commissions artists from across Cornwall to create their line of whimsical-themed stationery. Featuring greetings cards, prints and notebooks in her online shop, founder Ellie Warren pours inspiration from her Cornish home into each design. Perfect for Christmas, the ‘do it dreckly’ to do list and Mermaid of Zennor A4 print are just the thing for the stationery-lover in your life.

© Spilled Ink Stationery

Great gifts for foodies

7.    Freda's Peanut Butter

Toasted coconut, chipotle chili, winter fruit and spice or Cornish sea salt – Freda’s Peanut Butter promises a flavour for every palette. With an ever-expanding repertoire of sweet and savoury products, their twin gift packs are just the thing for foodies spending this Christmas away from Cornwall. 

Named after a much-loved camper van that took owners Lisa and Andrew around New Zealand in search of product inspiration, Freda’s are now based in East Cornwall, with their natural, palm oil free products now stocked in a string of independent stores across the county, including Lawrence’s Bakery & Bar in Truro, and Appleton’s Bar and Restaurant in Fowey. 

© Freda's Peanut Butter

8.   Wild Cornwall

From their idyllic farm setting on the Roseland Peninsula, Wild Cornwall plant, grow and package a whole host of foodie delights. Their farm-to-plate produce is especially tempting at this time of year, from their boozy Christmas cake and Trelonk mulling wine to sweet chestnut jam and forager’s chutney. For the tapas-lover in your life, look to the graze and grill gift set, complete with a countryside herb rub and mustard caviar.

If that's not enough, Wild Cornwall also produce a lovely line of cosmetic products, including a protective lip balm and reparative hand lotion, scented with botanicals fresh from the farm.

© Wild Cornwall

9.   Yallah Coffee

Explore Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Columbia and beyond with Falmouth and St Ives-based coffee fanatics, Yallah. Choose your giftee’s favourite caffeine fix, whether it’s whole beans or extra fine espresso-ready grounds. Every pouch has been roasted within the last five days, and they also offer handy subscriptions on a prepaid or pay as you go basis. 

We recommend the ‘three of the best’ taster pack or the ‘Love Yallah Bundle’ – two bags of coffee, a branded Keep Cup and an organic cotton t-shirt – all you need to do is wrap it and pop it beneath the tree.

10.    Pentire Drinks

Those looking for a non-alcoholic winter warmer this festive season will want to put Pentire Drinks at the top of their Christmas list. Celebrating Kernow’s unique and delicious botanicals, this Port Isaac-based brand offer two types of signature tipple – Adrift (coastal, herbaceous and fresh) and Seaward, their new zestier spirit.

Sure to be a hit with keen cocktail makers, we love the sound of Pentire’s limited edition bundle, complete with a 70cl bottle of botanicals, a 50cl bottle of bitters, plus a copy of Porthole Issue one – their exclusive in-house newspaper. What’s more, everything’s vegan and cruelty-free. 

© Pentire Drinks

11.   The Cornish Cheese Company

On the edge of Bodmin Moor sits Knowle Farm – home to The Cornish Cheese Company and its selection of award-winning fare. Having created Cornwall’s first blue cheese, this much-loved business has been up and running for 20 years. 

Perfect for a Boxing Day feast, pile up a cheeseboard with cuts of their Cornish Yarg, pear and walnut paté, a handful of sourdough crispbreads and a generous dollop of sticky fig relish. Their online recipes provide plenty of inspiration for true cheese fiends, from pumpkin soup with Cornish Nanny toasties, to Cornish Blue and veggie stargazy pie.

© The Cornish Cheese Company

12.   Sauce Cornwall

Specialising in cocktails sourced within a 15 mile radius of Rock, Sauce Cornwall’s monthly subscription service is a great option if you’re looking to treat someone special to year-round pick-me-ups. Giftees will enjoy new Cornish cocktails delivered through their letterbox each month, complete with homemade liqueurs, bitters and syrups. 

Each delivery is themed and contains three expertly mixed drinks, recipe cards to replicate at home, plus garnishes and tools to complete the cocktail experience. A date for the diary – orders must be made before 17th December this year for delivery by Christmas Eve. 

13.   Lady Vale Bakery

Now for something sweet. With collection only available from their Nansledan kitchen, an indulgent celebration cake is the perfect edible gift for any of our fellow Cornish locals this year. The all-women team at Lady Vale Bakery source local ingredients to make everything as fresh as can be, even down to the homegrown flowers that adorn their beautiful bakes.

Kickstart your festive season with a celebration cake, finished in your choice of colours, flavours and a custom message. Lemon meringue pies, coffee curd layer cake, berry cheesecake tarts – there’s nothing better than checking in on Instagram to see their latest creations. 

© Lady Vale Bakery

Beauty and wellbeing gifts

14.    The Cove Bathing Co

These coastal inspired products make the perfect secret Santa gift for bath-loving coworkers. Handcrafted in small batches and made with natural ingredients, The Cove Bathing Co sell bath salts, oils and fragrances, plus individual refills so you can easily top up your go-tos. Their compostable pouches are made from plants and they even include a postcard from one of Cornwall’s breathtaking beaches in every order, to connect more people to the coast. 

Gift someone special a reminder of their favourite Cornish beaches, from the Mother Ivey’s bath milk to the citrussy Sennen Cove bath salts – a bergamot, lemon and orange blend. Lovely at this time of year, try the Kerenza diffuser, complete with five black reeds and hints of cranberry, orange and cinnamon.

© The Cove Bathing Co

15.    Bloomtown

Passionate about creating ethical beauty products from their home in Cornwall, Bloomtown are experts when it comes to bath, face and body. As the UK’s first independently certified palm oil-free company, their products are cruelty-free and vegan, with no synthetic colours, sulphates or parabens.

Mix and match your favourites with a ‘build your own’ wrapped gift set, and choose from Himalayan bath salts, hand washes, sugar scrubs, body oils, face masks and more. With hints of Christmas spice and candied almonds, their ‘naughty and nice’ candle duo is perfect for lovers of sweet, festive scents.

16.    Living Sea Therapy

Sister brand to Cornish Sea Salt and Cornish Seaweed, Living Sea Therapy specialises in bath and body products that are sustainably sourced. Working alongside marine biologists and harvesting their sea salt flakes by hand, this local brand pack sea-themed concoctions into every bottle. Choose from the sea mineral cocktail hand wash, ocean nursery hand cream or even a sea spaghetti and shea body butter.

17.    Particle Press

For lovers of the Great British countryside, a Particle Press gift will go down well. Owner Fiona works from her Falmouth studio to fill her shop with everything from washbags and tea towels to prints and wrapping paper, all finished in her signature botanical designs.

Revive hardworking hands with the ‘busy gardener’ gift set or pop a seasonal soap into this year’s stockings; we love the sound of the Christmas gift set, ‘Joyeux Noel’, ‘Happy Christmas’ and ‘Season’s Greetings’.

For children and four-legged friends

18.   Lakin & Boone

Having recently made the move from Truro to Hayle, this beautifully curated lifestyle store is a must-visit if you’re shopping for children or parents-to-be. Their Scandi-inspired gifts combine soft, wooden and educational toys with room décor, books and clothing. Some favourites from their ‘new in’ section include peek-through picture books, patterned snuggle suits and beautiful muslin quilts.

19.   Natural Cornish Pet

If your pet’s managed to stay off the naughty list, put something under the tree from Natural Cornish Pet. 2021 winners of the ‘UK pet retailer of the year’ award, devoted pet owners will love this shop in St Erth. From glow in the dark toys and turkey-flavoured snacks to their very own Christmas dinner, there’s plenty to keep four-legged friends in good spirits.

© Natural Cornish Pet

20.  Little Loves Cornwall

This brand comes highly recommended if you’re in the market for cute-as-a-button childrenswear. Their collection of clothing, babygrows, swaddle blankets and changing mats is all hand made to order from a studio in North Cornwall. If we had to pick a favourite, we think the seagull embroidered sweater will be a hit with families missing the beach this Christmas.

21.   Dasher Dogwear Cornwall

Whether it’s a festive bandana or a matching collar and lead, smarten up your four-legged friends with help from Dasher Dogwear. Everything’s handmade in Cornwall and their products come in plenty of fun colourways, from leads with whimsical patterns to weather resistant Biothane collars, complete with your choice of metal hardware.  

Gifts from Cornish artists

22.    Studio Lowen

For homemade accessories and homeware, head to Studio Lowen. The pretty but practical range is designed and created in Lisa’s West Cornwall studio, where her ceramic baubles, personalised jewellery pouches and leather napkin rings are proving popular this winter. 

Every design is uniquely painted and finished by hand – our favourites are the everyday purse Christmas gift set and these sweet ceramic whales, just the thing for a meaningful Cornish momento.

© Studio Lowen

23.    Katy Pillinger Designs

Another favourite artist of ours is Katy Pillinger – loved for her quirky prints, stoneware ceramics and thoughtful greetings cards. What started out as a pipe dream from Katy’s Cornish cottage has now blossomed into a creative business that’s perfect for picking up smaller stocking fillers like earrings, posy pots, pins and ornaments. Plus, every order is wrapped in environmentally friendly packaging, perfect for more sustainable Christmas shopping.

24.    EOT Ceramics

Based out of a shipping container in Penryn on Cornwall’s south coast, Emily Olivia Tapp is the woman behind the potting wheel. Self-taught and a lover of organic forms finished in beautiful natural glazes, her online shop features hand thrown dimple cups, mugs, bud vases, egg cups and tea light holders.

Often selling out within minutes, we recommend signing up to Emily’s newsletter for early access to her winter shop, launching on 27^th November. Meanwhile, Cornish locals can enjoy festive shopping at Bohls Yard on 4^th December.

© EOT Ceramics

25.    Forest and Fawn

If jewellery is on anyone’s Christmas list this year, avoid the last-minute frenzy and pick up some contemporary treasures from Forest and Fawn. Another Falmouth-based brand, their pieces are designed to last a lifetime, with commissions also available for an extra special touch. 

All made using eco sterling silver and nine carat eco gold, plus responsibly sourced stones and diamonds, the shop features moonstone rings, beautiful bangles and delicate pendants. 

Happy shopping!

If, like us, you're an independent Cornish brand, and you'd like to feature in our 2022 Christmas gift guide, get in touch with our Marketing Team at info@perfectstays.co.uk or message us on Instagram @perfectstays. We love hearing from local businesses, but only ever make recommendations based on genuine experiences or great reviews.

Image credits: St Eval Candles | Badger and Birch | Spilled Ink Stationery | Freda's Peanut Butter | Wild Cornwall | Pentire Drinks | The Cornish Cheese Company | Lady Vale Bakery | The Cove Bathing Co | Natural Cornish Pet | Studio Lowen | EOT Ceramics | All other images are our own.