6 Holiday Gift Boxes & Packs from Minnesota Brands

When shopping for holiday gifts this year, think inside the box—literally—with a holiday gift box that does the shopping for you. Several gift box services have popped up over the past year, each curating boxes of goods for gift shopping made easy. Here are the latest boxes and package deals for the holidays and how they stack up.

Primp Holiday Boxes

This is the first go at the gift box concept from the local cheap-chic retailer, which quickly expanded from one store to nine locations since first opening in 2010. The store has created three gift box options (priced at $28, $48, and $72), available in store and online, and each is filled with items handpicked by Primp owners Michele Henry and Wesley Uthus. Like Primp, these boxes are geared toward young women who love fashion and trying out the latest trends—sample products include face masks, plaid scarves, earrings, lip balm, and mugs with cheeky messages. Best of all, the store is donating 10 percent of proceeds from sales of the holiday gift boxes to Tubman, Minnesota’s largest provider of domestic violence shelter services.

Where to buy: Available at Primp stores (find locations at primpyourself.com) and at primp.shoplightspeed.com/gifts

Minny & Paul Holiday Boxes

Hot off its collab with Wit & Delight for a Mother’s Day gift box, the gift box brand has curated two new box options for the holidays. Founded by local creative Laura Waldman last year, Minny & Paul prides itself on featuring handcrafted goods by some of the best Minnesota makers (in some of the most stylishly packaging), and carries boxes for a variety of occasions and themes, including bridesmaid and groom gift sets. The new holiday box options include the “Cheer” box ($55) and the larger “Cozy” box ($98), which feature items such as Illume incense, Annie B’s peppermint bark, rosemary peppermint lip balm, and an imported Turkish peshtemal towel from Kisa Boutique. Both come packed in a custom keepsake birch box made by local manufacturer, WAAM Industries, and shipping and a handwritten note are included, and ribbon gift wrap can be added for $1.50.

Where to buy: You can shop the boxes online now at minnyandpaul.com or in person at the Island of Misfit Makers market (Saturday, Dec. 2 from 11 a.m.–5 p.m. @ Food Building, 1401 Marshall St. NE., Minneapolis), First Thursday at the Minny & Paul studio at Northrup King Building, where shoppers can build their own box (Thursday, Dec. 7 from 5–7:30 p.m. @ 1500 Jackson St. NE. #247, Minneapolis), and a Minny & Paul pop-up at the Hewing Hotel (Sunday, Dec. 17 from 10 a.m.–3 p.m. @ 300 N. Washington Ave., Minneapolis)

The Vignette Box Christmas Edition

Around 2014, Heather Strommen started a blog about the restoration of her 1937-era Lake Minnetonka home. That project morphed into the Instagram account, @sweetshadylane, where she posts images of her home and interior design inspiration. Recently while taking photos of a vignette for her Instagram account, she came up with the idea for The Vignette Box, an instant decor ensemble for a side table, mantel, nightstand, or shelf that can be placed in any combination. (It’s also a great hostess gift.) The limited-edition box is filled with treasures inspired by the “Sweet Shady Lane” style—which she describes as “traditional but inviting, nautical but not over-themed, classic and comfortable.” After its initial launch earlier this fall, Strommen is releasing a limited-edition Christmas version ($225) the day after Thanksgiving, with a custom-designed Christmas box featuring a toile print by Abbey Holden Studio, a framed 100-year-old postcard print with Ralph Lauren plaid wool fabric matting and gold frame, a gold easel, a felt Santa ornament, a festive candle by Austin Press, and two preserved mini boxwood wreaths to hang or place a candle within.

Where to buy: Online beginning Friday at sweetshadylane.com

The Beauty Lounge’s Beauty Boxes

The Beauty Lounge is a hair salon in Northeast Minneapolis that describes itself as a “mission-driven salon aimed at empowering people to love their hair because all hair is good hair.” Owner Melissa Taylor has created two beauty boxes launching in time for the holidays: The Beauty Box customized with products for different hair needs. Each box contains washing, styling, and maintenance products as well as Taylor’s signature, handcrafted beauty butter. The boxes are intended to give every person the right products they need to maintain their specific hair type. Due to the differing types of products, the six box options—which include sleek, straight, curly, coil, wave, and scalp care—range in price from $77 (valued at $120) to $127 (valued at $170), with the option to add one of Taylor’s signature “All Hair Is Good Hair” t-shirts ($20). 

Where to buy: The Beauty Lounge, 1224 Quincy St. NE. #130, Minneapolis, 612-227-9363, and online at mplsbeautylounge.com

Love Your Melon Family Packs

On Thanksgiving Day, the popular knitwear brand is launching a series of eight gift backs in time for the holidays. Sets range from the Couple Pack ($50), which features two knit beanies and a children’s book, all the way to the Santa Pack ($1,000), which features a variety of 16 knit beanies for adults and kids, four infinity scarves, four knit headbands, a blanket, four caps, and a children’s book, plus a Santa sack to put them in. Bonus: The more you shop, the more good your dollars do: The brand donates half of its net proceeds to nonprofits fighting pediatric cancer. This weekend, the do-gooding brand is working to raise $1 million for the fight against pediatric cancer along with free shipping on all orders, surprise gifts, and new product releases from Friday through Monday.

Where to buy: Online beginning Thursday at loveyourmelon.com

B+D Custom Craft Holiday Kits

New craft kits from Minnesota-based brand, B+D Custom Crafts, offers craft projects perfect for the holidays. Each kit incorporates all the needed supplies—such as locally sourced wood letters, acrylic paint, glue guns, brushes, and greenery—to make decorative words, phrases, or monograms, including holiday-appropriate “Joy” and “Noel” kits. Kits start at $14.80 and go up to $40.30.

Where to buy: bdcustomcrafts.com