The 303 Magazine Holiday gift guide for 2024 is here. This season we’ve rounded up a small curated list of a few of our favorite gifts from local Colorado companies and from the brands you know and love. Whether you need some gift ideas for friends and family or you need a small something for a holiday party, we’ve got you covered.
Gifts from local Colorado small businesses
Lottie’s Meats and Provisions
Whether you’re hosting dinner for the holidays or shopping for the foodies in your life, check out Lottie’s Meats. Founded by two sisters, the Denver-based company sells high-quality pork sausages and meats from a six-generation family farm in the Midwest.
On a mission to increase premium pork consumption at the dinner table, Lottie’s offers a diverse range of chef-crafted, flavorful, unique pork sausages and expertly seasoned ground pork blends, made from all-natural pork loin and pork shoulder with no nitrates, chemical preservatives, or artificial ingredients.
Start with Lottie’s artisanal sausage starter pack ($52) which includes four of their core products—two, fully-cooked sausage packs – the Lottie and the Bratwurst – and two packs of perfectly seasoned ground pork blends – the Everything and the Calabrian. It’s the perfect way to get to know the quality of meat you’ll get with every purchase.
Lottie’s is available online, and stocked in more than 50 retailers throughout Colorado.
Aspen Vodka
A perfectly neutral gift that will lift almost anyone’s spirits—a bottle of Aspen Vodka ($29.99). Made in the mountains of Aspen, the clear and clean vodka captures the essence of Colorado in every pour with pure Roaring Fork River water and Colorado Red Winter Wheat.
We not only love Aspen Vodka for its premium taste but for its sustainable efforts. The Aspen-based distillery is one of the world’s first carbon-negative, LEED Platinum-certified distilleries, combining quality with environmental stewardship.
Shop online here with free shipping for the holidays.
Ready-to-drink Old Fashioned from Atomic Cowboy
If the holidays have you scrambling or you have a friend whose bartender skills are lacking, then the ready-to-drink Old Fashioned ($48) from Atomic Cowboy is the perfect gift. In celebration of its 20th anniversary, Atomic Cowboy partnered with local distillery Boulder Spirits to craft a ready-to-drink bottled Old Fashioned.
Available at all Atomic Cowboy locations and Boulder Spirits’ new retail store, this pre-mixed, wonderfully balanced, ready-to-drink cocktail pairs perfectly with your Christmas morning biscuits from Denver Biscuit Co.
The art of re-gifting from Refound Goods
Give the gift that keeps giving, a vintage find from a local thrifting company; Refound Goods. Launching in September of this year, Refound Goods is Denver’s new online marketplace for pre-loved and vintage furniture and home goods. Think of Refound Goods as your local thrifting and flipping marketplace where you can buy and sell used goods without all the b*llshit of Facebook Marketplace.
Browse their collection of vintage furniture and decor or get started with their curated gift guide of one-of-a-kind gifts for those one-of-a-kind people in your life.
Paka Apparel
For any outdoor enthusiast, when it comes to performance apparel, the benefits of Merino wool are undeniable. But merino wool isn’t the only magic animal fur. Aplaca fur features all of the benefits of merino wool as well as being soft as cashmere, hypoallergenic and not as heavy. This is why Kris Cody, founder of Boulder-based Paka Apparel, uses Alpaca fur as the main ingredient for his outdoor apparel line.
The cozy outdoor apparel brand features everything from sweaters and hoodies to pants and socks, all using fibers sourced from Alpaca farms in Peru, which customers can track using Traceable Alpaca. Simply scan your garment’s tag to see exactly where the fiber was sourced, connecting you to your clothing in an entirely new way.
New this season and the first-of-its-kind, the Mountain Crewneck blends alpaca fiber, fine merino wool, and nylon for upgraded durability. With an innovative an design resistant to snags and easy to pack without wrinkling, it’s the go-to sweater for anyone on your list. The Mountain Crew is the first PAKA sweater offered in unique women’s and men’s designs. The women’s cut offers a standard fit with flattering stitch lines, and the men’s fit lean more relaxed.
Custom jewelry from Honest Hands Ring Co.
Jewelry is a classic gift for almost anyone on your list, but finding one-of-a-kind pieces to show someone how much you really care can be hard. Not with Honest Hands Ring Co., where owner and jewelry maker, Ben Bosworth, decided to quite literally take matters into his own hands when he couldn’t find a wedding band he liked from big box retailers and made one for himself.
The jewelry designer’s workshop operates in Morrison where he creates rings from start to finish. Crafting one-of-a-kind pieces, Bosworth takes special items from his customers like a family heirloom, and incorporates them into the ring with etched designs of landscapes, trails, or anything meaningful.
Travel for a cause with Adventurist Backpack Co.
For the traveler in your life, Denver-based Adventurist Backpack Co. designs minimalist backpacks/bags for travel, with a social cause. For every bag sold, they provide 25 meals to families in need across the U.S. (through their partnership with the non-profit Feeding America), and have been able to provide 450,000 meals since their launch.
For gifts that give back, shop their new Nomad and Summit sling bags ($45). Or check out their new Carry On Duffel/Backpack 45L ($125). The duffel/backpack ($125) is perfect as a carry-on for flights, as well as for road trips and backpacking.
Pepper Pong
Game night and holidays at Grandma’s just got an upgrade with Pepper Pong. Combining the classics with the latest craze in court sports, Pepper Pong is a portable mashup of pickleball and ping pong that can be played anywhere, anytime, by anyone.
Bring it to the tailgate party at the Bronco game or set up at grandma’s house, either way, Pepper Pong can be played almost anywhere and it’s easily transportable for any kind of holiday travel. The soft materials also make it silent and safe for indoor play.
How to play? Simply set up the accordion-like fence (net), grab a mullet (paddle) and select one of three “peppers” (balls) based on how spicy you are feeling. Then, rally away. When you’re done, shove the gear back into the included travel case and stash it away until the next suitable occasion.
Savory Spice – Taste of Colorado Spice Collection
Perfect for the lover of all things Colorado, the Taste of Colorado Spice Collection from Savory Spice. As a Coloradan brand founded in 2004, Savory Spice celebrates its roots with its eight-jar gift set, each named after iconic landmarks, mountain ranges and neighborhoods in the Centennial State. Perfect for everything from grilled meats to roasted vegetables, it brings the spirit of the State right to your kitchen—making a great gift.
What’s included: Pikes Peak Butcher’s Rub, Capitol Hill Seasoning, Pearl St. Plank Salmon Rub, Mt. Elbert All-Purpose Seasoning, Red Rocks Hickory Smoke Seasoning, Wash Park Garlic Pepper, Cherry Creek Seafood Seasoning, Park Hill Maple & Spice.
Gifts from brands we know and love
CAMP National Park Sunglass Set
For the National Park geek in your life, be sure to check out the National Park sunglass collection from CAMP eyewear. The limited-edition eyewear features numerous National Parks including Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, and Great Smoky Mountains with 5% of sales going to local park nonprofits.
Each frame in the National Park capsule incorporates natural, organic and sustainable materials. The eyewear bundle features a paracord eyewear retainer, an illustrated microfiber cleaning cloth and a sleeping bag pouch for eyewear storage, all packaged in a decorative box specific to each national park. It’s as if the collection was designed for gift-giving.
Helly Hansen
Helly Hansen, the Norwegian-born outdoor brand has made a name for itself in the outdoor and snow-sports world since 1877. We know and love them for their eternally warm winter wear for the slopes and snowy adventures. But even for the person who perfected the art of après, they offer stylish lifestyle pieces for slopeside fashion statements.
Shop one of their newest styles; the Ellie Puffy Parka. Designed to keep you warm on cold winter days in the mountains with its generous blowable synthetic insulation, adjustable hood and wrap-around neck, this puffer not only looks good on but will never leave you shivering again. It’s the ultimate protection against the cold and looking less than fashionable.
Fjallraven
From the Swedish brand, Fjallraven, who brought us the ever-popular Kanken backpack, now brings a similar version in the form of a weekender. The Kanken Weekender is the perfect companion to any staycation or weekend getaway to the mountains with its simple design and enough space to carry all your essentials. The rugged and sustainable material carries well as a simple hold-all, a crossbody bag, or as a backpack by turning it on its side and using the padded shoulder straps.
Priced under $200, it’s the perfect gift for those who seamlessly blend their day-to-day life with their outdoor lifestyle. Shop at their Denver store location at 1510 Platte St.
Warby Parker
The popular eyewear brand, Warby Parker, opens its 6th Colorado location at Orchard Town Center in Westminster. Just in time for early holiday shopping, Warby Parker’s new location will carry the brand’s full assortment of optical and sun offerings (including the latest Winter 2024 collection), their brand of daily contact lenses Scout by Warby Parker and more.
The best part? You can use your FSA/HSA dollars towards prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses (including blue-light-filtering, anti-fatigue, light-responsive, and progressive lenses) as well as contact lenses, readers and eye exams.