Stress-Free, Last-Minute Local Gifts

The Buzz on Grab & Go Gift Baskets, Sweet Mimi’s Chocolates, Handmade Holiday Gifts, Holiday Sale at Share the Love Consignment, 3 Must-Have Wines for the Holidays & Burgundy Holiday Menu Pairing!

Grab-&-Go Gift Baskets!

Everybody loves a Great Gift Basket! And downtown Andover’s Elsie’s Pantry has you covered! Owner Linda Conners-McCarthy has Grab-&-Go Gift Baskets waiting for you in her 90 Main Street Specialty Food & Gift Shop. Available in a variety of sizes. And with beautiful packaging — fancy sleighs, rustic farmhouse crates, and festive boxes. All filled with items Linda personally curates in her shop. Like Lake Champlain Organic Holiday Chocolates; Lark Tea Cakes; Fabulous-Fixin’s All-Natural Creamy Curry Dip Mix; Ben’s Sugar Shack Pure Maple Syrup, Downeast Doodle All-Natural-Soy Candles, Brianna’s Handmade Vegan Soap; Hannon Made, Hand-Crafted Wood Serving Boards, and more. It’s an easy-peasy way to give a fabulous gift!

Sleigh Full of Goodies

Festive Foodie Basket

Farmhouse Crate Packed with Fabulous Gifts

Basket of Joy

Sweet Mimi’s Chocolates

Downtown Andover’s Sweet Mimi’s Chocolates has you covered with Sweet Stocking Stuffers and Hostess Gifts. Like Foil-Wrapped Chocolate Santas. Decadent Truffles — Boxed and Ready-to-Give. Melt-in-Your-Mouth Peppermint Bark. And who doesn’t love getting a Red Tin of Peppermint Pig Hot Cocoa.

Foil-Wrapped Chocolate Santas

Melt-in-Your-Mouth Peppermint Bark

Decadent Truffles in a Gift Box

Peppermint Pig Hot Chocolate in a Red Tin

Handmade Holiday Gifts

The local go-to for handmade holiday gifts is North Andover’s The Village Studio. Where you’ll find an abundant and ever-changing selection of handmade personal care items, everyday necessities, pottery, candles (like the Tree House Christmas Beer Candles at the top of this post), and gifts. Treat a friend or yourself to JB Artisans Soaps. Which are free of the skin-drying ingredients in commercial soaps. Or give the clean-burning scent of gingerbread cake with a ScentSimple Soy Candle. Dress up someone’s kitchen for the season with locally made tea towels by k.Patricia. Give a You & Me bracelet to someone special. And make a Grab Gift by tucking a Hot Cocoa Bomb into a beatiful, old-fashioned ice skate mug from Lynne Kasparian Designs.

JB Artisans Soaps

ScentSimple Soy Candle in Gingerbread Cake Scent

Santa Hat & Snowman Face Tea Towels by k.Patricia

You & Me Bracelets

Hot Cocoa Bomb

Lynne Kasparian Designs Pottery

Holiday Sale at Share the Love

Merrimack Valley’s Best Consignment Shop is running a Holiday Sale. So you should run to North Andover’s Share the Love Consignment. And snag a deal on a fun holiday ornament. Or treat yourself to a shimmering silver bag for winter, at a fraction of its original cost. And while you’re there, ask about hosting a Sip & Shop with your friends. More on that to come…

Holiday Sale at Share the Love Consignment

Fun Holiday Ornaments

Shimmering Silver Bag for Winter

Sip & Shop at Share the Love Consignment

3 Must-Have Wines🍷for the Holidays

Samanta Ettore, owner of Andover’s wine-sense, has you covered when it comes to wine for the holidays. Her WS⋅Essentials Holiday Survival Kit has 3 bottles each of 3 Must-Have Wines to get you through Christmas and New Year’s:

— Domaine de la Hersandiere, Muscadet Sevre-et-Maine Sur Lie
— Flora Prosecco
— Saintayme, St Emilion Grand Cru, 2018

Burgundy Holiday Menu Pairing

wine-sense owner Samanta Ettore offers wine/food pairing advice year-round. Just one of the many reasons to visit her 166 North Main Street shop. Below are her Burgundy Holiday Menu Pairings. For a Feast of the Seven Fishes, Samanta recommends lean, minera-focused and perfectly balanced — 2020 vintage. And for Meats and Root Vegetables, Samanta recommends fruit, body, elegance, with a touch of earth — 2020 vintage.

Feast of the Seven Fishes

— Domaine Françoise et Denis Clair, Saint-Aubin, Blanc $40
— Domaine Françoise et Denis Clair, Saint-Aubin, 1er Cru, Les Frionnes $55
— Domaine Lejeune, Les Monsnieres, Cotes de Beaune Blanc $36
— Henri Latour, Saint Romaine “Le Jarron” $42

Meats & Root Vegetables

— Chandon de Briailles, Aloxe Corton 1er Valozieres $120
— Chandon de Briailles, Pernand 1er Ile Vergelesses $75
— Domaine Françoise et Denis Clair, Santenay 1er Cru Clos de Tavannes $54
— Domaine Françoise et Denis Clair, Bourgogne Hautes-Cotes de Beaune Rouge $30

Happy Holidays & Happy New Year

Thanks for shopping locally in Andover and North Andover. We are taking a rest at ShopDineTheAndovers.com and will return next year.

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