Consuming Louisville's First Annual Holiday Shopping Guide

How do I love WHY Louisville? Let me count the ways. I love the Night Owl shirt that I mostly recently acquired. I love the Home Fleur de Les (by featured shopping guide artist Art by Mags) and I'm still madly in love with the 502 shirt. WHY Louisville is a unique shop that sells a lot of unique stuff but in my mind, WHY Louisville is all about the shirts. They have a huge variety of shirts that were either designed by local artists, feature local landmarks or culture, or are otherwise related to how great Louisville is. WHY Louisville is also the store with the big bear out front. Don't be afraid, they're friendly inside.

Item: Excellent Louisville T-Shirts
Location: WHY Louisville
1609-1/2 Bardstown Rd
Louisville, KY 40206
or online
Cost: Variable

2112 Bardstown Road
Louisville, KY

Just Creations is one of my favorite holiday shopping destinations. I wish I was a good enough person to say that my primary reason for shopping there is that they deal in fair trade merchandise and are making the world a little better one sale at a time. The truth is though they’ve got fantastic stuff at fantastic prices. The touchy-feely making the world better stuff is just an added bonus. I particularly like buying jewelry there. It’s beautiful, unique and oh so affordable. I bought this bracelet for my mom. Don’t tell her.

Item: Beaded Bracelet
Location: Just Creations
2722 Frankfort Avenue
Cost: $10 (told you the prices were great)

Dirty Tease is made up of two very cool women in Germantown who make "funny, witty, naughty" t-shirts that have attitude to spare. With shirts for such categories as: geek, gay and lesbian, mental health, political and feminism and several others there is something for everyone on your list. Well, I would think that you might have a hard time finding a shirt that a conservative Republican would like from Dirty Tease, but I could be wrong. My very favorite Dirty Tease item? The very cool, very geeky (just like me) No Comment shirt.

Item: Very funny T-Shirts
Location: Dirty Tease
1138 Goss Ave
Louisville, KY 40217
or online
Cost: Variable

The next few entries in the shopping guide aren't specific items but instead whole shops that you need to check out. There is no end to the neat items you'll find at these stores and no telling which people from your holiday gift list you'll make extremely happy with gifts from these shops.

The Makery is my new favorite shop on Bardstown Road. Run by a new transplant to our city (Welcome!) The Makery is a consignment storefront that showcases handmade, unique goods of all shapes, sizes, materials and styles. A few examples are t-shirts, paintings, notebooks, jewelry, hats and knickknacks, but that’s just scratching the service. Really, The Makery is a place you need to check out in person.

Since the items in The Makery are handmade the inventory turns over frequently. I can’t guarantee you’ll be able to find these hilarious mouse and mousetrap earrings when you go in but if you do your sister with the slightly skewed sense of humor is sure to love them.

Store: The Makery
1617 Bardstown Road
Louisville, KY

I can’t afford most of the stuff in Scout but I very much enjoy looking around, particularly now that they’ve added a second floor with furniture, art and other large household decorating items. If you comfortably reside in a higher tax bracket than I do then you definitely should spend some time in Scout. To be fair I should say there are some items in Scout I can afford, they just don’t happen to be the items I want.

Instead I want this gorgeous, rustic solid elm table. I know it won’t fit under the tree but feel free to buy it for me anyway.

Store: Scout
801 East Market
Louisville, KY

Clay & Cotton is a women's boutique that happens to be next door to my hairdresser. This is a problem because every time I get my hair cut I ended up spending more money at Clay & Cotton. Fantastic clothes, unique jewelry, home furnishings, stationery, fancy soaps that make you smell so good and lots more neat items populate the shelves and racks at Clay & Cotton.

According to the shop's website "Clay & Cotton products are dedicated to a more functional theme, with the idea that the things we use every day can be beautiful and inspiring, and add character and warmth to the rituals of daily life." That's a philosophy I can endorse.

Store: Clay & Cotton
1341 Bardstown Road
Louisville, KY

Last but certainly not least don’t forget how great gift certificates can be to give this holiday season. Coffee shops, bookstores, restaurants, record stores and all other manner of local, independent businesses are great gift certificate options. Though gift certificates can be impersonal they can also be an expression of understanding and respect for a person’s likes. Take a little care to make sure any gift certificates you’re giving send the right message. For example a gift certificate to Heine Brothers for me shows that you understand my deep and undying love for coffee and my pleasure in supporting local businesses. A gift certificate from ear X-tacy for your music loving aunt shows that you support her love of music and want her to get something she’s going to love.

You might also consider assembling a gift certificate package based around a theme or a neighborhood. For example a Douglass Loop pack featuring gift certificates from Heine Brothers, Breadworks and Horton’s Hardware is absolutely sure to delight any Highlands dwellers. A dinner and a movie pack featuring an Avalon gift certificate and tickets to Baxter Avenue Theaters will most certainly win you friends and influence people. Got a poor college student or starving artist you love? Consider splurging on them with a "Find the Perfect Pie" pack with gift certificates from Wick's, Clifton's, Za's, Impellizeri's, Spinelli's or any of the other fine pizza places in town. Trust me on this one, poor college students and starving artists love pizza. Make the effort to go all around town collecting gift certificates for pizza and the good karma will return to you infinitely multiplied.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this holiday shopping guide and more importantly I hope you’ll use it as a jumping off point for shopping at local businesses and buying from local artists this holiday season. Those businesses and artists are crucial ingredients to the unique and independent Louisville flavor that we all enjoy.

While you're shopping, if you could please share the word that Consuming Louisville.com sent you it would be much appreciated.