Your Hyperlocal Holiday Gift Guide

In this brave new world where "Made in China" is stamped on almost everything but our American foreheads, it's rare when you find a product not just made in the USA, but "Made in Your Town."

Since this Saturday marks the second Small Business Saturday, Patch thought it would be a good time to remind our readers of a few of the many products made right here in Monmouth County. In our round-up we've featured gifts that are uniquely local — made with local ingredients, by local hands and sold in local stores.

This Christmas and Hanukkah when you give that cigar rolled by hand in Shrewsbury or that chocolate covered pretzel hand dipped in Monmouth Beach you're giving a taste of home, not to mention supporting your neighbor's livliehood.

So enjoy our little list of gifts and feel free to submit your own because we know this is only a smattering of the good stuff out there.

Make the season tasty

 
• Going to a holiday office party and need a bottle of wine? We've got you covered with Monmouth Blush, one of the local vintage from JG's Vineyards in Colts Neck, retails for about $12. You can pick up a bottle of blush or their most popular and award-winning Cayuga White at Wine Sellars in Holmdel, Buy-Rite in Colts Neck, Lincroft Liquors, to name a few. Or if you're in town, stop by the vineyard any weekend until Christmas, noon - 5pm.

• If it's more of a beer crowd you hang with, take along 077XX Double IPA from Atlantic Highlands, Carton Brewing, sold at  in Middletown.

• In the specialty food category we have a long list of saucy favorites, including Fourth Creek Sweet Relish from Fair Haven and Born to Hula Hot Sauce of Keyport selling at Sickles Market. Grouped together they would make a great gift for your boss, your father-in-law, anyone who knows good food is better with a little kick.

• Also at Sickles Market, fresh mozzarella from  and .

• We know you are serious about your coffee and that is why we are seriously recommending the beans from , on Route 36 in the Leonardo section of Middletown, where

• And what would Christmas be without candy in a stocking or Hanukkah without a chocolate dreidel? Sweet gifts abound at the Red Bank Chocolate Shoppe,  and . 

Not just local, unique and memorable

• It's that time — time to decorate for the holidays. Well, what could be better than a lawn ornament made by hand with love? You can find a vast array of beautifully hand-crafted wooden deer and other assorted winter wonderland gems at in North Middletown. Frank has been there for years carving away. Pay him a visit. You won't be disappointed.
  

• In Little Silver there is tiny shop bursting with local handicrafts and not a glue gun string in sight. At the , manager and buyer Lori Saybolt uses her discerning eye to recruit and cultivate crafters who make unique, boutique quality crafts, with a sense of place. Check out the pottery from a Fair Haven artist who uses leaf impressions to create bowls and plates in organic shapes and rich earthtones. Pieces range in price from $8 to $114.

• And always in stock at the Women's Exchange are the longitude and latitude signs. A perennial favorite at $18, they feature local towns with their coordinates. You can bet that if you make this your next hostess gift, it will be remembered long after those bottles of wine the neighbors brought.

• If you are looking for a gift for a new homeowner, you can always go with the safe bet: a nice plant with low light needs. Or you could go for a custom gift that will make you, we mean "it", the conversation piece of cocktail parties to come. has been crafting stained glass windows and all sorts of other unique stained glass creations, such as jewelry and belts, for years. She does lots of fabulous restoration work as well. Kate's signature work is noticed and praised wherever it turns up.

• Leave a sweet scent of home behind when you visit far flung relatives this year, with gifts from  The farm, run by former state Sen. Ellen Karcher, grows English and French lavender and uses them to make soaps, sachets, lavender honey, culinary lavender, herbes de Provence, linen and body sprays, eye masks and body wraps - even lavender filled origami bookmarks and custom painted porcelains. Prices vary from $2 to $22 with most items costing between $5 and $10. To purchase, visit the farm, but call ahead first: 732-740-4832.

Give beautiful things to your beautiful people.

• You could spend every waking moment over the next four weeks knitting a scarf for your loved one. Or you could go to All Things Consignment in Fair Haven and purchase one of the beautiful scarves created by Josephina, a crafter from Long Branch. Hers retail for $55 and come in a rainbow of colors. And let's be honest, yours looks a little crooked. 

• Miss Ellie, a Long Branch artist, designs jewlery using new and vintage components. Her designs which often feature birds and natural objects like branches, are inspired by art nouveau and victorian heirloom jewlery. Her rings, braclets and earrings are priced anywhere from $25 to $64 and are showcased at All Things Consignment.

So now it's your turn. Where are you shopping locally this weekend? Add your links in the comments and submit your photos.

Elaine Van Develde contributed to this story.