Updated (See Not A Number) Thursday, 1:20PM
It’s the Wednesday before Christmas and — c’mon, fess up — you still have to get some last minute gifts. Well, fear not, neighbors, as we’ve put together a handy little guide for super-cool gifts found right here in Wallingford. Best of all, they’re mostly around $20 or less! Many thanks to Wallywriter Chris and Reader Laura who helped put the list together.
Amita, the Art of Gifts (Wallingford Center) Open 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. (10-6 Christmas Eve) Amita has jewelry, handmade postage stamp magnets ($3), scarves, gloves, candles. Really cute place, not terribly pricey.
Tweedy & Popp (Wallingford Center) Open 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. (9-6 Christmas Eve) Tweedy & Popp has a table of John Deere toy tractors & toy dinosaurs. Who knew? Of course, you can always pick up other more practical gifts: pet supplies, fireplace logs, gardening gloves.
Trophy Cupcakes (Wallingford Center) Open 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. You need wrap and cards, right? Trophy is offering 25% off holiday cards, gift wrap and ornaments. While you’re there, check out the holiday flavors like Chocolate Candy Cane, Bourbon Eggnog, Gingerbread, and Candied Yam!
Pharmaca Integrative (Wallingford Center) – Open 9:00 a.m. – 8 p.m. (Christmas Eve: 7:00 a.m. retail, 8:00 a.m. pharmacy, both close at 6 p.m.) – $10 donation gift bags for Solid Ground. Fancy chocolates, soaps, hand cremes, spa gifts. etc.
CrackerJack (Wallingford Center) – Open 10:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. (10-5 Christmas Eve). Amazing handmade crafts and gifts for just about anyone you could think of. Much of it is higher end jewelry and can be pricey, but you can also find quite a few gorgeous gifts for under $20. I was quite fond of the Scrabble pendants and the fabulous smelling hand crafted soaps! (Sniff the gingerbread soap!) There are also some beautiful handmade woven items that I wanted to buy all of!
Terra Hemp (4419 Wallingford Avenue North) Open 10:00 a.m.- 6:00 p.m. (10-4 Christmas Eve). Socks & wallets as low as $10-$15 (I got myself a wallet, woo hoo!). Hemp notepads for the environmentally conscious, $5. Purses, bags, clothing too.
World Wide Books and Maps (4411 Wallingford Avenue North) Open 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. (Closes at 4 Christmas Eve) Not just travel books and gadgets, though there certainly are plenty of those! Mapkins (just what you think they are!) for $3.99. Puzzles, games, travel bags, Bananagrams, even inflatable globes.
City Cellars (1710 N. 45th St.) Open 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. (11-5 Christmas Eve). City Cellars has a rather large collection of $10 bottles right in front near the register. They’ve also got inexpensive half bottles of champagne and port.
Dick’s Drive-in (111 NE 45th Street) Dick’s Dollars! Booklets o’ Dick’s Dollars starting at $20. Open 10:30 – 2 a.m. (Closes at 6 p.m. Christmas Eve).
Chocolati (1716 N. 45th St.) Open 7:30 a.m. – 11:00 p.m. (Closes 7:00 p.m. Christmas Eve) Small and large boxes of truffles are sure to warm everyone’s heart. The candy counter is like a donut shop — just tell them how many truffles you want in total, and start pointing. Shopping is so fun sometimes!
Archie McPhee (1300 N. 45th St.) Open 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. (8-4 Christmas Eve). In the mood to get silly? Archie McPhee’s has you covered. They’ve got everything, much of it cute or nostalgic or cheap. Or all of the above. They’ve got candy I haven’t seen elsewhere since 1978. And two of my faves: the devil rubber duckie ($4.50) and the Nancy Pearl Action Figure ($8.95). A super fun shopping stop.
Open Books (2414 N. 45th St.) Open 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. (11-4 Christmas Eve). Buy a book of poetry for the one you love – or to read to them on those cold winter nights to spark a warm romance!
Seattle Stained Glass (2510 N. 45th St.) Open 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (Closed Christmas Eve). Buy a gift certificate for a glass for you and a special someone to make your own post-holiday present for your home.
Bargain Fair Thrift – (1415 N. 45th St.) You just never know what kind of odd present you might find here. Hours are Tuesday – Friday, from 10 to 4, including Christmas Eve.
Family Works (1501 N. 45th St.) & Boys & Girls Club (1310 N. 45th St.) Great places to donate in someone’s name as a charitable gift.
Hawaii General Store (258 NE 45th St.) Open 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. (Open until 2:00 p.m. Christmas Eve). Check out this shop for eclectic Hawaiian themed gifts and other goodies to make someone feel warm and sunny in the cold Seattle winter! The Obama bobblehead dolls are precious and who doesn’t love a good lei?
Not a Number (1905 N. 45th St.) Update: Special Wallyhood discount of 15% off entire purchase if you mention you saw this in Wallyhood! Open till 8:30 or later tonight, till 9 or later Thur., and as always till at least 8 pm on Xmas Eve. And Kara points out that “Not A Number Cards & Gifts has more of the fun crazy xmas cards left than Bartell’s, a customer told us yesterday…. also plenty of family-friendly, pretty and alterna-holiday (solstice, peace, chrismukkah, festivus). categories still left in holiday cards also include Political, Dysfunctional Family, Cats n’ Dogs, Potty Humor, Really Risque, more!”
Oasis Art Gallery (3644 Wallingford Avenue North) Open 12:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Handmade jewelry, wine stoppers, scarves and mittens, votive holders, bookmarks, and magnets.
Seattle Mosaic Arts http://www.seattlemosaicarts.com — gift certificates, glass, nippers… even little sacks of grout will make a mosiacist happy.
Awesome guide. Now could the gentlemen in this forum speak up and say what would be your perfect Christmas gift? I’m stumped on my significant other and time’s running out to get him something!
Fabulous socks from Sock Monster!
Oh, yeah. Sock Monster is at 1909 N 45th St. Right next to Not a Number. You can find my hula hoops there too 🙂
i love Mosaic Arts!
not sure how it got left out, but there’s two shops for inexpensive & fun gifts / cards that’re open late Xmas Eve: Sock Monster and Not A Number Cards & Gifts, next to Fainting Goat Gelato next door! (coolestblock.com)
Not A Number continues our 5-year tradition of 1) No Annoying Xmas Music (whew, ahhh…), and B) Open till at least 8pm on Xmas Eve!
And Sock Monster will stay open until at least 7, both offering extremely inexpensivebutnice stocking stuffers, non-annoying music, and very nice customer service. Lots of fun cards still, and lots of Bacon Salt products incl the new Bacon Popcorn!
btw, Not A Number Cards & Gifts has more of the fun crazy xmas cards left than Bartell’s, a customer told us yesterday…. also plenty of family-friendly, pretty and alterna-holiday (solstice, peace, chrismukkah, festivus). categories still left in holiday cards also include Political, Dysfunctional Family, Cats n’ Dogs, Potty Humor, Really Risque, more!
Kara – I don’t think anything was intentionally left out. Much of this list was contributed by people who were actually out and about shopping for last minute gifts. I was actually one of those folks, as was my partner. We would have loved to hit every shop on 45th and take notes on them all – but there just wasn’t enough time! Also, I admit we know Sock Monster and Not a Number intimately, having been in both numerous times. (My partner wrote up the opening of Sock Monster I think.) We just didn’t have anyone to shop for in either store, so I am afraid we simply forgot to mention them in our notes! So yes, both places are great for last minute gift shopping indeed.
I have found fantastic stuff at Yazdi in Wallingford Center over the years! I get jewelry there for my mom every year. Very nice scarves/gloves as well. Give it look, even if the styles up front aren’t your style. There are some fantastic, high-quality gifts to be had there.