Under 25
With the country’s current, sorry economic state, many are preparing for a Cratchit-like holiday season. If plummeting stocks have crippled your finances and threatened your stockings, you have two options: The first is to pull a “Gift of the Magi” and trade in your most prized possession for presents for your loved ones. But let’s be honest, your season one DVD box set of Wings isn’t going to get Ralphie that Red Rider BB gun he’s been clamoring for. Your best bet is to stick with your friends at VITAL, and let us show you some thoughtful, spirited local gifts that cost $25 dollars or less. Keep your wallet, your family and friends happy, and keep your Wings DVD. VS
PinoFunnel + more
$17 – $25
hot*pop
414-273-1301, hotpopshop.com
hot*pop opened in the Third Ward this spring, and it’s like nothing you’ve ever seen in Milwaukee: they advocate “good living through good design” and at their colorful store you can find apparel, sneakers, comic books, skate deck art, urban tableware, Hong Kong-inspired vinyl toys, as well as a gallery of local and national art. Among the dozens of bright, cheeky delights available, you can find a small funnel shaped like Pinocchio’s face (his nose is the funnel) that lets you get wine back into the bottle from the carafe. Great for the young at heart, street art lovers and people who obsessively collect small things.
$7
Teecycle
Teecycle.org
We all know how fun it is to find a hip, hilarious or just plain nice t-shirt buried in the racks at the thrift store. It’s great to wear it and tell people who like it that you paid a dollar for it. But if you’re not so into the thrill of the chase, the hours of digging or the funny smell of thrift store clothing that never quite washes out, you’re in luck. Not only does Teecycle take all of that nasty hard work out of it, they donate $1 from every shirt sold to the River Revitalization Fund. Everyone wins! Teecycle’s cute gently used shirts are a bargain at $7 per, so buy one for everyone in your family.
Hand-made crafts
$7 – $25
John Michael Kohler Arts Center
920-458-6144, jmkac.org
The John Michael Kohler Arts Center is well- known for its visual and performing arts offerings, but the center’s ARTspace breaks the mold by merging a traditional museum gift shop with a curated exhibit of art with One and Only: Gifts Made by Hand. So if that special someone would love a decorative ceramic tumbler, a one-of-a-kind glass ornament (incorporating ash from Mount St. Helens), decorative felt wool flowers – all delivered with gorgeous hand-made cards – One and Only is sure to have just what you need.
Organic fair trade tea and gift sets
$20 – $24
Rishi Tea
rishi-tea.com
If the nerves of some of your gift recipients are still shot from a turbulent election year, help them forget that a real life Ebenezer Scrooge was on the ballot last month with some of the world’s finest artisan teas. Milwaukee-based Rishi Tea recently cleaned house at the 2008 World Tea Awards, taking home seven best tea awards. Best of all, half-pounds of these highly-acclaimed teas – such as Rishi’s Peppermint Rooibos, China Breakfast and Earl Grey – can be purchased for less than a quarter of a Benji. Rishi’s limited edition holiday blend is an Organic Cinnamon Plum that’s sweet, tart and earthy, and some of the proceeds benefit the Clean Water Fund. You can also bring home a pretty tea set with a tiny single-serve infuser pot and black tea samples served up in a lovely bamboo basket.
Coffee samplers and gift cards
$10 – $25
Alterra Coffee Roasters
877-273-3747, alterracoffee.com
Alterra just made your holiday shopping a lot easier. If you’re clueless abut the coffee lover on your list, a $25 gift certificate could be your saving grace. But why not step it up a little this year? Alterra offers affordable sampler packs that feature two pounds of its favorite coffees in four half-pound servings! The company touts these packs as “the perfect gift for the true coffee aficionado” – a bold statement (coffee pun not intended), but we challenge anyone to disagree. Try the Fair Trade/Organic sampler for the coffee drinker with a conscience or, for the gourmet, the Roastmaster’s Picks feature some of Alterra’s most sophisticated blends.
Concert tickets and gift certificates
$10 – $25
The Past Theater, Riverside Theater,
Turner Hall Ballroom
414-286-3663, pabsttheater.org
Santa has been known to make early visits, and fans of indie rock darlings Alex Chilton, Juliana Hatfield and The Faint would certainly love it if the jolly ol’ fellow “forgot” what day it was and advanced them a ticket to any of the upcoming shows from the above-listed artists. But for punctuality’s sake, a $25 gift certificate would be a great way to contribute to helping a loved one experience the New Year’s Eve performances of Cake or comedian Jim Gaffigan. And our friends at the Pabst have a habit of booking painfully awesome shows all year long, so don’t be surprised to see more of the amazing same in 2009. Maybe you’ll even be invited along!
Comic-to-film source material
Around $20
Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops
schwartzbooks.com
Those comic books you always thought were just “kids’ stuff” are gaining a new surge in popularity due to more adult-oriented themes, the “graphic novel” moniker and an increased presence in recent cinema. And like any great film adaptation of a literary work (Beaches, anyone?), it’s important to read the book before trekking off to your local theater. There are a lot of promising comic films on the horizon. Luckily, Harry W. Schwartz has trades (big collections of comic book story arcs, for the unaware) for many of these high-profile movies, including The Essential Punisher and the complete masterpiece of Alan Moore’s Watchmen, ready to be gifted to your favorite nerd.
Gourmet beers
$7 – $12
Sendik’s Food Markets
sendiks.com
Sure, teas are great for soothing the jitters, but what about those who want to relax AND work towards the ultimate goal of permanent liver damage? A good beer may be just the right stocking-stuffer for these folks. The good people at Sendik’s Food Market have been kind enough to mark some of the finer brews they carry with official Beer Advocate and ratebeer.com scores, making alcohol selection as easy as twisting off the cap. VITAL recommends Delirum Nocturnum ($9.94 per pint) Double Dead Guy Ale ($10.99 per pint) and Lakefront Brewery’s Eastside Dark ($7.99 per six pack). The Lakefront beer is especially suggested if you are headed out-of-state for the holidays, since everyone loves to experience the real Milwaukee deal.
Organic produce baskets
$9 – $16 per week
Growing Power
414-527-1546, growingpower.org
Whether you’re looking to help the earth, support local urban farmers or get others to eat healthier, Growing Power’s market baskets are eco-friendly gifts that continue to give on a regular basis. The baskets contain 12 to 15 varieties of fruits and vegetables and can feed one to four people (depending on the price paid) for a week. Best of all, the baskets feature the seasonal offerings of Growing Power and the Rainbow Farmer’s Cooperative, making it unlikely that the recipient will ever get the same basket twice. Growing Power’s Will Allen just received a MacArthur Genius Grant, so reward brains, science, the earth AND the local community – all at once! WOAH! 
Pantone mugs from W2
$13/ea
Milwaukee Art Museum
414-224-3200, mam.org
These are perfect for the designer, painter or color-lover in your life. Buy one by one to mix and match or grab a full color set for someone you really like. Give your friends colors that suit their personalities or shades you think would look good in their kitchen. If Pantone isn’t your thing, you could pick up a $25 gift certificate for the Museum store, which is full of classy and sassy souvenirs, books, jewelry and home wares. Or, for the student in your life, purchase a $25 student membership that includes free general admission all year, plus tickets for feature exhibitions, reduced rates on classes, events and special programs and the lovely knowledge that they’re supporting one of Milwaukee’s most beloved cultural institutions.
Eco-conscious bath treats
$6 – $24
Chartreuse
414-747-8434, hellochartreuse.com
Bay View’s new eco-friendly boutique Chartreuse makes doing the right thing super sexy – and this year, downright cheap! Encourage your friends to indulge themselves with a walnut sugar scrub ($18), mineral salts ($16) and hemp oil lotion ($16) made in the U.S.A. naturally and sustainably. For the ultimate relax pack, pick up a few soy wax candles served up in 100% post-industrial recycled paper planters. And if you’ve got new members of your family or social circle, think about organic cotton baby bibs or onesies from Kee-ka. Chartreuses is the real deal – no green washing here!
Desserts made from scratch
$8-$12
Comet Café
414-273-7677, thecometcafe.com
Is there anything better than a homemade pie, a fresh pan of cupcakes or an enticing tray of tart, sugary lemon bars? The answer is yes: giving those things to someone you love. Comet makes it easy, especially if you’ve got vegans in your life. Give them a 48-hour heads up and they’ll bake you something amazing to bring to Mom and Dad, Aunt and Uncle or your favorite holiday host and hostess.
Toys/books/chachkis and more!
$8 – $23
Milwaukee Public Museum
414-278-2728, mpm.edu
There are SO many reasons to visit the Milwaukee Public Museum, especially during winter break when you’ve got lots of time to spend with the kids. And while everyone loves the mammoth, the whale skeleton, the rattlesnake button, the butterfly garden, the IMAX, Samson, the candy store in the Streets of Old Milwaukee and the Soref Planetarium you might not think of the gift shop as a destination in and of itself. But here’s the great part: you don’t have to pay admission to visit the gift shop, AND they’ve got a ton of fun, affordable gifts that everyone in the family will like. Scoop up Weird Wisconsin, a book celebrating our many strange state legacies, or a fluffy puppet wooly mammoth for a little one. Plus beautiful jewelry and accessories, holiday-themed presents like Christmas Goes to Sea, or a computer mouse with a real live bug preserved inside of it. Yuck! Or … awesome!
Milwaukee Bucks tickets
$10 and up
milwaukeebucks.com
Basketball is great as it is, but there’s something especially lovely about basketball in the wintertime, and this winter, the Milwaukee Bucks are unusually promising. With this great December special, where most upper-level seats are available for just $10, you can afford to take your whole family to a thrilling, heated, unbearably exciting game. Or two! Why not, with prices this cheap? We’re willing to bet that this is the best deal in the NBA. And at the relatively intimate Bradley Center, no seat finds you too far from the action. Go Bucks!
