Just in case you are looking for gifts for friends in Seattle or maybe even in the Portland/Seattle/Vancouver corridor or Christmas gift ideas in general, maybe this list might help you brainstorm. We are a family of Seattle locals and I’ve been thinking about things that we’ve found useful lately and this might help you out with your shopping in the last couple weeks before the big day.
Seattle Experience Gifts
Museum membership ideas in Seattle:
I always advocate for getting local memberships as Christmas gifts, and this year the MoPop membership is top on our list because there is a Minecraft exhibit at MoPop until September of next year. (We also bought a membership the year Hello Kitty was there too! We need more Hello Kitty in Seattle for sure!). Right now there is also a Hello Kitty exhibit called “Friends Around The World” going on in Bellevue to celebrate 45 years of the adorable cat-if you buy this for Christmas though it only goes on through December 29, 2019. One year my husband bought me a Chihuly Garden and Glass membership for my birthday and I really loved that too.
A cooking class or subscription Christmas gift:
Raddish isn’t necessarily local but it’s a fun cooking subscription box for kids and when I posted in my instagram feed I had a lot of people ask about if it would be a good birthday or Christmas gift idea too. We first tried it out a few months ago and we still are making some of the recipes. My kids like to be in the kitchen and this is a life long skill that totally helps the whole household. We have also tried local classes from Junior Sous Seattle and Frogs Legs and they have been fun for our family too. One of our favorite cooking products this year has been a balsamic vinegar from Metropolitan Market’s best of met collection. It comes in a really nice-shaped bottle and my kids’ love eating bread with olive oil and this balsamic vinegar and it’s from a local Seattle company so that makes us happy too.
Local adventure Christmas gifts:
A local adventure is always a good gift idea because the memories sometimes outlast the times kids might play with a toy. Years ago I might have cringed at the thought of staying at an amusement park hotel, but my guys love Great Wolf Lodge and it’s really grown on me and a night stay is definitely memorable even though there are now day pass options at Great Wolf lodge too. One of my guys recently wrote up his adventure on one of the waterslides for school and I can’t complain about any place that helps my kids become better writers.
My guys also really liked Wenatchee and this is close jaunt to Leavenworth which is really festive at Christmastime so it might be worth going for a night stay in lew of a traditional Christmas gift. We go up to Vancouver BC and Whistler frequently, so an adventure in either of those places are usually on our list. We have bought the kids tickets to sports games and local events as Christmas presents too.
An adventure also doesn’t even have to be very far away. We’ve stayed at the Bellevue Hyatt Regency to see Snowflake lane. And tickets to Enchant Seattle might also be a great idea for a festive family gift of time.
And some hobby gifts:
The guys also have been talking about getting into more rock climbing again lately so a gift certificate or day pass to a local climbing or bouldering gym might be fun as well. One of my guys really loves running with me and we’ve made a lot of use out of some noxgear running lights we’ve been trying out-they have fun colors and they help people see us as we run on dark and rainy Seattle nights. We are also big fans of Tinkercrate from Kiwi crate and I think we’ve been subscribed for over two years now!
Hygge Gift Ideas for Rainy Seattle Days
Even though our November was the driest in 40ish years I know the next few weeks are supposed to be rain, rain, rain and more rain. Maybe a raincoat from local brands Freeman or Feller might be a fantastic idea for a friend.
A yoga class or mindfulness gift idea:
If you have little kids and you want to help them cultivate mindfulness to help get through the wet, dark, season you might consider a Zafooz. These are innovative pillow “friends” that also come with mindfulness exercises. I’ve been using Core Power on Demand to do Yoga at home and I’ve really enjoyed the app. A gift certificate or pass to a local yoga studio would also make an awesome gift too.
Chocolate, coffee and ice cream gift ideas:
If you are looking for chocolate I have a list of chocolate factories in Seattle where you can purchase chocolates or even tours and chocolate making classes too. There are also some great independent coffee shops in our city and a gift certificate at one of these places might be a fun way to get a friend to try a new place. If you know your recipient loves ice cream Salt and Straw has a monthly pint club and Molly Moon’s has a bunch of really awesome ice cream themed apparel.
And a couple places where you can really specific Seattle themed gifts?
Made in Washington and Simply Seattle are two really great Seattle-themed gift stores where you can find a bunch of products from Seattle makers as well as merchandise that celebrates all things Seattle too. You can even find a Made in Washington gift store at the Seattle Airport.
If I find other ideas I’ll try to add them to this list. Do you have a favorite gift idea for friends and family in Seattle? I’d love to hear in the comments below. I’ve also written about Last Minute Gift ideas in the past and maybe some of those might still be able to help you too.
(PS. some of the ideas on this gift lists are products I’ve been gifted or products I have tried through sponsored posts and as always the ideas are my own.)
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)