| | | More than 25 things below $25 for Christmas | | December 18, 2009 |  | | | Voice Correspondent | | Setting a limit of $25 per item, the Voice went on a window-shopping spree to investigate whether there were any reasonably priced gifts to be found on Capitol Hill. Spoiler alert: There are.
• The gift shop at the year-old Capitol Visitor Center offers a hand-blown glass paperweight with an actual postal stamp commemorating the sesquicentennial of the U.S. Capitol. It’s $18. A red, green and gold Capitol dome ornament is another affordable gift at $21.
• In the “only in D.C.” category, the House of Representatives gift shop, located in the basement of the Longworth House Office Building, offers a clock with the House seal on the face for $10.22, a set of four sandstone coasters with the seal for $22.20 and cuff links with the U.S. seal for $24.72. The Senate has a similar gift shop in the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
• For the woman on your list who has almost everything, a fine art handbag hook for $20 from Art & Soul, an eclectic gem boutique in the 200 block of Pennsylvania Avenue SE, may be just the thing. The hook slips over the edge of a dining table at a restaurant to keep a purse safe and off the floor.
• For those on your list with whimsical tastes, Homebody on 8th Street SE offers voodoo doll toothpick holders for $12.50 and for $10.95 rubber doorstops shaped like a woman’s dress shoe for the proverbial foot in the door. They also sell cream pourers shaped like a cow’s udders that are called “calf and half.”
• If original wearable art is what you’re looking for, then food-inspired earrings at Hill’s Kitchen on D Street, SE, may end your quest. Designed by owner Leah Daniels’ cousin, the jewelry, priced at $11.95, includes miniature replicas of beer cans, hotdogs and fruits and vegetables.
The store also carries custom-made cookie cutters in the shape of the Capitol and the map of D.C. “I paid someone to make these,” said Daniels. “They had cookie cutters shaped like all 50 states but not D.C.”
• For an international flavor, the Village Gallery at the edge of Eastern Market on the corner of 7th Street and North Carolina Avenue SE offers jewelry from Africa for $15 to $25, and hand-embroidered wallets from Central America for $18.
Co-owner Claire Southerlin said, “Sales have been slow and the weather — the rain — hasn’t helped.”
• Bernadette Mayo, one of the weekend vendors at Eastern Market for the past 12 years, said sales of her handmade soaps at the outdoor market have been generally slow since the fire that ravaged Eastern Market in 2007. Available in many different scents, the soaps cost $7 for a 7.5 oz bar and make good stocking stuffers.
• For edible stocking stuffers, Steve Adams owner of Sweet Nuthouse, another outdoor Eastern Market vendor, recommends his homemade specialty-glazed nuts and is quick to offer free tastes.
“My wife makes everything,” said Adams, who has been selling packets of praline pecans, cinnamon roasted almonds and sweet and spicy almonds every weekend for seven years. Priced at $5 for a small cone and $9 for the medium, Adams, a retired University of Maryland administrator, said he sells about 200 bags every weekend.
• Pet owners and animal lovers can find locally made dog biscuits in five flavors and handmade canine Christmas ornaments at Chateau Animaux on 8th Street, SE.
• To keep misfortune at bay, Woven History & Silk Road on 7th Street SE sells $4 evil eye glass ornaments as well as an evil eye necklaces for $25. They also sell handmade Turkish coasters for $5 apiece.
• For fast-growing children on your list, you can stop by at Monkey’s Uncle on 7th Street SE for pre-owned children’s clothing, strollers and other equipment. The store is also a drop-off site for the Toys for Tots program, said co-owner Jay Keegan.
• A large selection of new toys is also available at Groovy dc, 425 8th St. SE. One of the simplest — a toy car called Automoblox made of wood with interchangeable parts that come in a variety of colors — is $13.50. While you’re there, you can snag a frame for the adults in your life, or William Morris-designed office supplies.
And if none of these fit into your list, there’s always the gift certificate. Most Hill businesses offer them in various denominations. | | | | | Log in to comment on this article |
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