When you’re shopping for Advent and Christmas gifts and décor, an online retail giant can lack the touch of a locally sourced present. Here are some ideas for Northwest gifts with Catholic flair.
Food and drink
Looking to buy wine for your holiday party or as a gift? Fidelitas Wines is not only highly rated but also run by a Washington state Catholic. The winery’s name is a play on the Latin word for “faithful,” and the business goes by the motto of “faithful, loyal and true.”
Burton Hill Farm Dairy on Vashon Island, run by a St. John Vianney parishioner and his family, sells raw goat’s milk and cheese, soap and other items at a limited number of locations and farmers markets in the Puget Sound area.
If you’re willing to put in the extra effort, the Shaw Island Benedictine nuns at Our Lady of the Rock Monastery sell mustard, herbs, cheese and wool items. But you might have to travel to Shaw Island to get them. You also can This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. document.getElementById('cloakfdf5acf6c71fbd415ff636b0611d8873').innerHTML = ''; var prefix = 'ma' + 'il' + 'to'; var path = 'hr' + 'ef' + '='; var addyfdf5acf6c71fbd415ff636b0611d8873 = 'mhildegard' + '@'; addyfdf5acf6c71fbd415ff636b0611d8873 = addyfdf5acf6c71fbd415ff636b0611d8873 + 'rockisland' + '.' + 'com'; var addy_textfdf5acf6c71fbd415ff636b0611d8873 = 'email Mother Hildegard';document.getElementById('cloakfdf5acf6c71fbd415ff636b0611d8873').innerHTML += ''+addy_textfdf5acf6c71fbd415ff636b0611d8873+''; to see if you can arrange a purchase.
The Trappist Abbey Bakery in Carlton, Oregon, bakes up traditional fruitcake, date-nut cake and tropical dessert cake. Plus they sell creamed honey made by the Cistercian Nuns at Redwood Monastery, which you can also buy directly from the sisters.
Christmas greenery
Why not get your Christmas tree or wreath at a farm run by a Catholic family? Try Country Tree Farm in Renton and Sprouffske Tree Farm in Rainier.
Body and beauty
Catholic Balm Co. is based in Edmonds and sells hand-crafted beard balms, lotion bars, lip balm and accessories. Products are infused with “Catholic” scents like Chrism and Holy Smoke and come with witty messaging like “Peace be with you, and with your skin.” Profits go toward ProjectYM, a Catholic youth ministry program.
Escape to Peace soy candles are sold in scents like gardenia and coconut. Proceeds benefit the nonprofit Escape to Peace organization (started by Holy Family Kirkland parishioner), which combats sex trafficking.
Arts and crafts
The Benedictine nuns at St. Placid Priory in Lacey sell organic honey bottled by a local beekeeper. The proceeds help support the Congregation of St. Agnes in Tanzania and their school. The monastery store also sells handcrafted items like miniature wool sheep, blankets and prayer shawls. (Sorry, the wool Seahawks Santas are already sold out for this year.)
L’Arche Tahoma Hope’s Farm & Gardens craft program sells cards, journals, books, picture frames, paper, candles, Christmas ornaments and wreaths. All the items, including the paper, are made by people with disabilities.
You can purchase rosaries and decade bracelets made by This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. document.getElementById('cloak17c5361957ba5febb1e2f220225d143c').innerHTML = ''; var prefix = 'ma' + 'il' + 'to'; var path = 'hr' + 'ef' + '='; var addy17c5361957ba5febb1e2f220225d143c = 'br_edmund' + '@'; addy17c5361957ba5febb1e2f220225d143c = addy17c5361957ba5febb1e2f220225d143c + 'stmartin' + '.' + 'edu'; var addy_text17c5361957ba5febb1e2f220225d143c = 'Brother Edmund Ebbers';document.getElementById('cloak17c5361957ba5febb1e2f220225d143c').innerHTML += ''+addy_text17c5361957ba5febb1e2f220225d143c+''; at St. Martin’s Abbey in Lacey. He has a limited supply as he makes them for about an hour each evening in his spare time.
Donate
Make a donation in someone’s name to a Catholic charity, like Catholic Community Services of Western Washington. You’ll see how far your money goes with the online calculator. A $50 donation, for example, is the equivalent of 41 hot meals for the hungry.
Local stores
Buy Catholic Relief Services fair trade items at Ten Thousand Villages stores.
Western Washington Catholic establishments like Kaufer’s Religious Supplies, Alleluia Catholic Store, Vercillo’s Catholic Book & Gift, and Queen of Peace Catholic Store are good places to find a variety of religious-related items and support local businesses.
Roadtrip worthy
The monks at Mount Angel Abbey in Oregon started selling their Benedictine Brewery Belgian-style beer this year. But for now, bottles can only be purchased at the monastery bookstore.