A Portage Park, Jefferson Park, Norwood Park And Edgebrook Gift Guide

Credit: Danielle Deschaine

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PORTAGE PARK — Far Northwest Side businesses are gearing up for the holidays.

From local artwork to handmade winter gear, home essentials and arts and crafts, independent businesses have great gifts that to make loved ones smile.

Block Club Chicago rounded up a few Far Northwest Side options to help residents shop local.

Here’s what you can buy:

Portage Park

Credit: Ariel Parrella-Aureli/Block Club Chicago

Distinct Bath and Body, 4046 N. Milwaukee Ave. Website.

From sugar scrubs to colorful bath bombs and more than 50 soaps, giving the gift of self-care is easy with handcrafted products by Distinct Bath and Body shop owner Sam Davis said. 

For the holidays, Davis is offering gift sets of soaps, bath bombs, grooming products and bath salts ($18-$45). People can pick and choose soaps with scents such as yuletide, gingerbread, cranberry fig and ginger lemongrass — or go with traditional soaps like black pepper and lime, lavender or oat milk and honey.

Hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday. The store offers curbside and in-store pickup and free shipping for online orders more than $50. 773-930-4420. Instagram.

Credit: Ariel Parrella-Aureli/Block Club Chicago

The shop by haywoodmade, 4942 W. Irving Park Road. Website.

the shop by haywoodmade, which launched in late 2021, sells home goods, including candles, coasters, soaps and kitchenware items. Many are handmade by women from the Chicago area and the Midwest.

A set of six handmade coasters ($55) is a great gift, owner Kelsey Haywood said. The shop also has small bowls sold in greens and blues ($32) that can be used for the kitchen, bathroom or living room. The shop’s candles and reed oil diffusers also are top sellers, the owner said.

haywoodmade has several winter candles to get the hygge vibe going, including its pine and cypress candle ($60). It’s an investment, but it lasts for more than 100 hours and fills the house, Haywood said.

Hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday and 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturdays. The store offers pickup and free local delivery. 312-380-9311. Instagram.

Credit: Ariel Parrella-Aureli/Block Club Chicago

Kit: A Bar Supply Store, 4938 W. Irving Park Road. Website.

This store has everything you need for the bartender, the drink slinger or the home cocktail savant in your life. The shop, owned by two sisters, sells bar tools, bartop supplies and home accessories.

The Mini Bar book set ($20 in store; $22 online) features 100 cocktail recipes divided into eight books based on ingredients. Pair that with the shop’s Chicago-themed bar key ($10) and coasters ($2 each) and you’re basically drinking local — from home.

Hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Tuesday and will expand to 2-7 p.m. Friday for the holidays. Pickup and local deliveries for online orders are available. 708-967-2133. Instagram.

Credit: Perkolator

Perkolator, 6032 W. Irving Park Road. Website.

The popular Portage Park coffee shop has been giving back to the community and brewing local coffee for eight years. For the holidays, the shop offers a hot chocolate and mug set ($30), a great way to enjoy the colder months. The kits are available with a kick of spice (or not) and use natural Belgian chocolate.

If you’re a fan of the shop’s baked goods, they can be delicious, no-fuss gifts. Perkolator’s flourless fudgey brownies ($10) come in a four-pack and are available for local delivery.

Because Chicagoans love to sport their beloved businesses, the shop also sells apparel, including trucker hats ($20) and classic T-shirts ($25) with Perkolator’s logo.

Hours are 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. It offers free delivery on online orders $15 and more. 773-853-2261. Instagram.

Collectiv, 5743 W. Irving Park Road. Website.

Collectiv sells locally made arts and goods, including clothing, skincare products, jewelry, art and home decor. New this year are multi-colored hand-dyed bowls and baskets ($35), which are practical while also a colorful home addition, like the planter basket option ($62).

Customers can also choose from dozens of art pieces, including nature-inspired collage art squares ready to hang ($36 each) and a poster of a “flat” Chicago featuring landmarks, streets and transit stations ($40.50).

Hours are noon-6 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday. The store offers curbside pickup and delivery. 773-236-7643. Instagram.

Howling Pages, 4354 N. Milwaukee Ave. Website.

Portage Park’s first crowd-backed graphic novel bookstore opened this year to much hype, offering thousands of international titles, artwork and work by local young artists. The shop sells comic-themed puzzles ($15-$20), prints and posters ($15-$20) and smaller stocking stuffers, including buttons, trading cards and stickers ($1-$5).

For the Black Panther fan in your life, the shop is selling a “Black Panther Wakanda Atlas” ($30) — perfect timing since the second movie, “Wakanda Forever,” just came out.

New screenprints, sized 9 x 12 inches, from German artist MUAH are also in store ($35 for normal and $15 for offset printed ones).

Howling Pages is open noon-6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 11-6 p.m. Saturdays and noon-5 p.m. Sundays. Instagram.

Credit: Facebook

Home Line Decoration, 4358 N. Cicero Ave. Website.

Home Line Decoration, also called Al-Bazzar, sells hundreds of handcrafted Turkish mosaic lamps in various sizes, styles and colors. It also sells ceramic home goods and tapestries, all made by Turkish artisans.

Like last year, the store is having a close-out store to get rid of inventory, which means new items such as handcrafted rugs in various sizes ($20-$25) are on sale. The store also has new colorful stools ($40) as well as its usual plethora of colorful lamps ($14-$30 depending on size).

Home Line Decoration is open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. daily. 312-539-5633.

Jefferson Park

Credit: Ariel Parrella-Aureli/Block Club Chicago

Cosmic Bikes, 4641 N. Milwaukee Ave. Website.

Cosmic Bikes has all of your cycling and adventuring needs, including handcrafted, high-quality non-bike-y gifts from independent businesses. Choose from colorful headbands ($10) to neck gaiters for colder bike weather ($22) handcrafted in Nepal.

Warm handmade blankets from Mexico are also top sellers at the shop ($35-$125), said owner Justyna Frank. They come in a variety of colors, stripes and sizes. They are excellent as a yoga blanket, a picnic blanket, beach blanket or a camping blanket, like the Autumn Earth Baja Diamond Beige Mex Blanket ($35).

Hours are noon-6 p.m. Monday-Thursday and Saturdays and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sundays. Instagram. 773-930-4076.

Credit: Ariel Parrella-Aureli

REP CHI, 4425 N. Milwaukee Ave. Website.

REP CHI has everything you need to celebrate your Chicago love while supporting local artists. New black-and-white large koozies ($26) and wine cooler koozies ($26) are on the shelves, as well as updated neighborhood T-shirt designs and signs made by local artists ($25-$45).

If your friends love their neighborhood park, the shop is selling handcrafted wooden signs for Wilson, Portage and Jefferson Parks — replicas of the Park dDstrict green signs ($100).

Hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays. It offers curbside pickup for online orders. 773-696-1992. Facebook.

Credit: Ariel Parrella-Aureli/Block Club Chicago

The Made Shop, 4440 N. Milwaukee Ave. Website.

This one-stop shop with handmade works from more than 45 Chicago-area artists sells candles, earrings, mugs, T-shirts, hats, shoes and more.

New this year are neighborhood felt flags that include Portage Park, Edison Park, Humbold Park, Old Irving Park and a Chicago flag ($25). For plant lovers who want a plant that will never die, crocheted hanging plants and fake cacti ($27) to add “green” to the living space are also fun gifts.

Hours are 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 11 am.-7 p.m. Saturdays. 708-351-5526. Instagram.

Norwood Park

Northwestern Cutlery, 7138 W. Higgins Ave. Website.

For the chef in your life, Northwestern Cutlery offers kitchen tools, aprons and uniforms, specialty knives and knife sharpening starting at $4 per knife. The bamboo guitar-shaped spoon ($12.95) will add style and quality to your kitchen.

For bread makers, the shop offers a plethora of useful tools and affordable storage containers, including the orange pottery ceramic bread warmer ($8), which keeps goods warm for about 45 minutes.

Northwest Cutlery, family-owned since 1972 and which moved to Norwood Park two years ago from the West Loop, also has swag for sale, including leather patch baseball caps and black beanies ($34.95).

Hours are 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturdays. It offers free shipping on orders over $149.95. 312-421-3666. Instagram.

Edgebrook

Local Goods Chicago, 5422 W. Devon Ave. Website.

For the diehard Chicagoan in your life, Local Goods Chicago has an array of city-themed gifts by local makers and artists, like the Chicago music venue map ($35) by artist Joe Mills.

For writers, the shop has Chicago-themed pens and notepads, including a mini daily self-care tracker $14) notepad from Logan Square print shop Steel Petal Press.

Folks can also make two holiday-themed candles at the shop’s upcoming candle-making class ($65) led by the owner of Polar Bare Bath, a local beauty and candle company.

Previous guides:

• 2021

• 2020

Hours are 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, with pickup available for online orders. Instagram.

Do you own a shop or want to boost a local business during the holidays? Submit its information here and we’ll add it to a reader gift guide! It’ll come out in early December.

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